Lost in Paradise
by ChaosSpartan575
Summary: To kill the Sith Emperor once and for all, Darth Nox gave her life. She saved everything she cared for and yet still lost it all when she was tossed into alternate reality by her sacrifice. Can she find her place in this reality and help fend off something just as dark and powerful as the Emperor ever was.
1. Chapter 1

I have a new story here. Mostly just something I had to get out of my head. Anyway enjoy and sorry for any mistakes in advance as I had no beta for this piece. Reviews and criticism are welcome.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Stars Wars or Mass Effect.

 **Lost in Paradise Ch.1**

She never expected to sacrifice herself to save the galaxy. It just sort of happened. The Emperor had to be destroyed and destroyed he was. It was funny really that she, Darth Nox, Dark Council member of the Sith Empire was the Galaxy's savior. It must have left a bad taste in the mouth of the Republic. No doubt Darth Ravage was happy, but the rest of the Dark Council like Marr, Vorawn and Acina, probably new their chances of defeating the Republic have just dropped even more without her. No amount of Isotope-5 could let them come back from this. Hell, if it wasn't for her they wouldn't have even had the Isotope-5 to begin with.

It was a tiny piece of regret knowing the Empire would probably fall without her. Shame really, she worked so hard to preserve it as well as change it for the better. In the end, she was thrust into a new reality by her sacrifice and would probably never get back.

This new reality seemed worse off in fact. Its technology was comparable to a steaming pile of Reek shit. Although she did fall in love with her Omni-tool as it was much handier. It was like having all her gadgets in one tiny little wristband computer. The lack of instant galaxy wide communication outside simple quantum entanglement was really the only drawback to the fantastic little device. She did manage to upgrade it a bit with some programming from her reality. It ran much more smoothly now. It was funny really, she could barely read or write to save her life, but programming droids or computers was second nature to her.

The rest of the tech was inferior to say the least, this reality's largest ship was only a kilometer high and about half a kilometer wide. While it was about average for the smaller military vessels of her reality, The element zero was so limiting. Many of the vessels the Empire and Republic built could dwarf the _Destiny Ascension_ as the Asari called it. They never even sought out an alternative route of technology. Mass Effect fields were great for some things she granted that, but to base every shred of tech in the galaxy on them was foolish and counterproductive.

Another thing was that they didn't even have blasters, just little grains of metal flung at near light speeds. Regardless of how much faster they traveled compared a blaster bolt, it was still frustrating as they didn't deflect off her lightsaber. They just fizzled and sometimes let out a low pop when she tried to deflect them. She did wonder if she could create a mass effect accelerated plasma bolt. It was something to do when she had time she supposed.

While many of these things drove her crazy, the kicker was there were no humans. She was the first and last of her kind. She let out a huff as she walked.

 _I should have let that annoying Jedi knight do the honors of killing the Emperor. Then I wouldn't be in this mess,_ she thought as she walked through the streets of some piss hole mining station by the name of Omega.

She turned heads of various alien races as she walked by. Her black robes, hood, and the long cylinder hanging on her hip no doubt made her stand out even without her sinister reputation on the station. The mask might have had something to do with it too. Her ancestor, the Sith Lord Kallig's mask often had that effect. Most of the time she didn't wear it, but it was a Forcesend when she arrived. With it she could pass as one of those Asari women with it on. It was not that she didn't admire the Asari, an entire race of only women sounded like one of her fantasies when she thought about it. What was truly worth admiring however was their ability to mate with any other race virtually ensuring their long term viability for eons. It sounded almost engineered to be honest in the grand scheme of things. Her deductions brought on memories of a hyperactive archeologist which she was proud to call a friend. She smiled at the memory of Talos, the archeologist's deductive reasoning must have been wearing off on her.

She continued to walk through the streets to the penthouse she "acquired" by literally throwing the former resident out the window about five years ago when she first arrived. She entered the building, despite looking like hell in the outside. The building was built remarkably well. She learned quickly that gang wars in this district were common and buildings needed to be able to resist stray rocket fire from time to time.

She herself had quite the reputation as practically no information on her existed. Even the Shadow Broker had nothing really concrete due to her connection to the Force. It allowed her to sense the thoughts and feelings of others which made it easy to pick out spies. She often loaned herself out as a truth detector among the Merc gangs. She made a killing off their infighting.

Aria, the station's self-styled Queen, seemed to become more wary of her as well. While Nox admired the woman's ruthlessness and pure strength of will. The Asari's bravado and hostility annoyed Nox to no end.

She walked into the elevator and waited patiently for it to arrive at her suite. When the door opened to the top level, it revealed a large spacious room colored in various shades of black and white. Her designer from Illium picked out for her about a year ago. Perhaps it was time for a change. She had the funds to redo everything and more after all.

She darkened the windows and pulled her hood and back and unclipped her helm and her fiery red hair fell down to her shoulders. She gave a relieved sigh as she felt real air brush against her pale skin. She always took pride in her attractive features, but there was a time back when she was a slave when they were more of a curse. She was just a common "covert" whore/escort on Dromand Kaas, the capital of the Sith Empire. She would pose as a new handmaiden for a day or two to cater to female nobles who had secret desires. Nox shook her head as she thought of those days even less than her glory days in the Empire, often to the point of repression. She had to or she risked insanity. Especially when her thoughts drifted to… Lana. She wanted to forget the woman who stole her heart, it was easier than remembering and feeling the awful hollow feeling. It was worst part about her situation. She would never see her lady love again. Never again smell the woman's scent or the feel of her golden locks on Nox's face while they kissed.

Nox shut these thoughts down quickly as she made her way to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of Thessian Wine from the rack. She poured herself a glass and settled into to her favorite chair in the living room. She sipped her wine lightly from time to time as she pulled up a book on her Omni-tool. It was a Turian War Romance. The Avian like species couldn't publish anything without a simple reference to battle or the like. However, their novels were generally well written if a bit uniform in style. What mattered was that she practiced her reading more. Nox could almost hear her friend Ashara, a Torgruta and former Republic Jadi turned defector to the Empire, nagging her about not keeping up with her studies. Nox rolled her eyes at the mere thought as she read on. She finished a chapter before her eyes started to get sore and leaned back and set her wine glass on the end table.

The tone of her omni being paged drew her from her musings. She lifted her arm to her face and answered without using the view screen.

"Nox here, this better be important," she said with a hint of annoyance.

"Sorry Boss, I called to let you know to turn on your viewscreen. Something big is happening in Citadel space. I won't take up anymore of your time." He hung up shortly. That is what she respected about Forius he was generally straight and to the point no doubt due to his Hierarchy training. He made a good informant and handler from time to time. He always managed to find her work. How he did so, she never really cared to ask, what mattered was that he was _karking_ good at it.

She turned on her screen and saw a batarian news reporter from one of the few of Omega's news stations. Batarians were by far the most repulsive of all species and not due to thier looks either. Their government, the Hegemony, was built on the backs of slaves. Being a former slave herself her disgust for them was immeasurable. Slavery was one of the few things she wished to change about the Empire. A wave of sadness washed over knowing she would never get the chance.

She looked back to the screen and barely really listened to what the Batarian newscaster said. What she saw surprised her. The images being broadcasted were ships, more blocky and angular at least compared to the standard Turian style. A new race it seemed. That was interesting she supposed, would this one have four eyes, maybe six? Perhaps they would look like a…

A picture came up on screen that stalled her very thoughts. She sat there frozen for a time as she stared at the picture of the new aliens, bi-gendered, asari like with hair atop their heads. Even after picture switched back to the ships, she still couldn't believe it.

They were human.

She stared for a moment longer and leaned back in her chair. She grabbed her wine glass and downed the rest of her wine.

"It is a about _kriffing_ time," she muttered. She used the Force to grab the bottle of wine off the counter. It glided slowly across the room as to not spill and into her waiting hand and she poured herself another drink which she needed, badly. She didn't care right now that she may be having too much to drink. It was just one of those days.

 **Twenty Five Years after First Contact**

The music flowed through Chora's Den like a cancer, slowing inflecting everyone with a sense of depression and an odd sluggishness. The bizarre Techno shit they played here just seemed to have that effect as the dark haired woman casually walked through the bar. She wore jeans and a tank top with a small leather jacket around her shoulders. She seemed out of place as she walked in her combat boots as opposed to her usual heels. The outfit hugged her gracious curves quite well drawing the attention of many as she walked by with a subtle sway in her steps. It was a far cry from the normal skin tight cat suit she normally sported but she needed to watch her target carefully and being conspicuous was a not warranted. The Illusive Man needed someone to keep an eye on the target.

Miranda looked at the woman in question sitting at the booth in the far edge of the nightclub. The red haired woman's sliver eyes watched a graceful young Asari maiden wrap her limber body around the pole in all manner of poses with a gleeful glint. One of the few vices her target pocessed other than the glass of brandy or sometimes wine she held in her hand. The woman was dressed in a mere t-shirt and jeans which showed off her delicate yet athletic frame almost a mirror to Miranda's own. She looked in her mid to upper twenties, but Cerberus had known of the woman for the past couple decades. Her un-aging appearance having been one of the traits that had drawn Cerberus to her to begin with. So outwardly she didn't look all that dangerous but looks were deceiving. Miranda knew that all too well. It was something the brunette unexploited herself on many occasions.

The most distressing thing about her target was she could pick out a spy in seconds. One look and whoever was watching the mysterious woman and they were made. Miranda found the woman fascinating in a way, what secret could she unlock for Cerberus? It was the reason why she was here, to watch and observe. So she kept out of sight and hoping the woman wouldn't lay eyes on her.

She needed to find out more and she had a strike team of some of Cerberus's best waiting in the alley to attack when Miranda gave the word. Something told her that this woman could handle them, but Miranda needed to observe, her position depended on it in a way.

Of course Miranda had been pretending to drink at the bar this whole time. She politely turned down the drunks who would hit on her from time to time while she was watching her target. She waited an hour before the asari stripper switched shifts. The woman didn't move just sat there sipping her drink until another took over.

Two more dance shifts later, her target still hadn't moved. The bitch just sat there with an annoying smirk as she watched the dancers. Miranda checked her omni-tool to see how much time had gone by. She groaned when she was that four hours had passed. No doubt the strike team was getting restless with all the waiting as well.

Miranda opted to wait another hour before she decided to call off the strike all together. She turned her head and rubbed her temples. The music was finally grating on her. When she turned back to glance at the woman she found herself face to face with her target.

That knowing smirk was plastered on the woman's face. Miranda quickly wondered how she gave herself away. She never once did anything to make her stand out.

"Actually you did an excellent job of spying, but there were things that gave you way." The woman said, her voice like silk, but it carried a certain arrogance to it as well. She ordered a drink from the young human girl who was bartending.

Miranda froze, the woman had just read her thoughts, _how did she…_

"…Read your mind. Well, that is my little secret now isn't it?" she gave Miranda a wink as the young bartender brought two drinks. The woman took them and payed for them with a wave of her omni. Miranda subtly reached for her gun inside her jacket while her target was distracted, but thought against it. The red haired woman's smirk morphed into a smile as she looked back at Miranda. She nodded to the Cerberus operative knowing what Miranda intended straight off and seemed glad she didn't.

"I really wish that you Cerberus louts would stop hassling me. I mean I can't even take a _kriffing_ shit without some agent making a call to the Illusive Man." Nox took a sip of her new drink. Miranda bristled a bit at the way she described Cerberus. Ignoring the woman's strange curse, Miranda raised her finger in protest.

"We are merely keeping watch on a…"

"…suspicious yet intriguing individual. One that possibly advance Cerber…" the woman fake coughed, "I mean humanity, in some way. Yes, I know the whole bit about how "Cerberus is Humanity" from the last guy after I tore the information from his brain. Left him a drooling husk, too"

Miranda did her best to not to show fear, but knew it wouldn't work. Agent Forson's encounter was revealed to her prior to the mission. She saw the pictures of the man lying in the hospital bed drool dripping form the side of his mouth. What was the woman planning to do to her?

The red-haired woman looked up and down Miranda's body, "I can think of many things to do to lovely creature such as yourself." Miranda didn't bother to hide her disgust at the woman who continued regardless, "But first I think introductions are in order. You can call me Nox and you are…" she let the sentence hung in the air.

"Can't you just read my mind?" Miranda asked skeptically.

"Where is the fun in that? When I get to know a girl I really like, I want to be surprised." Nox tipped her glass back and downed the rest of it.

"It seems you enjoy many women, why get to know me?" Miranda shook her head.

"You got more going on than the others, not just physically but in here," Nox tapped the side of her head. "You see things different than most and I find it intriguing."

Miranda frowned. What did she really want? She couldn't just play along. Nox would know if she was trying anything. Miranda knew too well that her thoughts were too well-ordered to not be read. Her line of thinking led to a theory and an idea struck her. Just crazy enough to actually work. She quickly reached out and grasped behind Nox's head and pulled her face in close, her lips smashed against Nox's.

Nox stiffened as she was caught by surprise, but soon melted into the kiss. Miranda guessed that the woman must have been too drunk to keep her own focus. Her theory proved correct as Nox couldn't seem to read minds instantly as their must have been some sort of lag, a short one, but abate still there. Making chance decisions on the spot seemed to through the woman off. The Illusive Man would be pleased with this little bit of information.

Quickly, she activated her Omni and an injector came out. She was about to inject Nox, but her hand froze in place. She realized she couldn't move as a whole as she must have been in some kind of biotic stasis. The worrisome part was the lack of a blue element zero field usually accompanying the use of dark energy. Was she using some form of telekinesis?

Nox pulled away and looked at Miranda. She didn't look angry or annoyed, if anything the red head looked impressed as her gaze fell upon Miranda's omni-tool.

"See, this is what I mean when I say your different than most. You adapt quicker." she gestured at the omnitool as she stood up, apparently too quickly. She swayed a bit. She grabbed the bar for support. Miranda felt the strange stasis fall away. She looked back at Nox to see she had recovered. Her eyes were closed as if she was trying to concentrate. Miranda wanted to drug her and get her to the team outside, but Nox could still be tracking her thoughts. Even in the Nox's inebriated state she could still be far too dangerous. Miranda made a call and instead sent a message to the strike team to abort the mission and meet back at the safe house.

"I should go," Nox half muttered as she tried to stumble away from the bar.

Nox swayed again looked like she was about to fall over. Miranda found it odd that now of all times Nox would suddenly appear to be wasted. She reached out and caught the red head as the she fell over.

"Well aren't you just my angel of Ia... go…" Nox passed out before she could finish. Miranda looked at the glass Nox had. She took a sip of what was left and licked her lips with the brandy. She waited for symptoms and sure enough, Nox was drugged. Miranda didn't believe in mere luck and that meant someone else was watching Nox, waiting to catch her. That meant right now Nox was the priority. Getting the woman away from any of Cerberus' rivals like the Shadow Broker or the STG was paramount at the moment.

She sent a ping to her team to regroup, but her omni-tool's connection was severed. Someone was jamming the bar and probably the surrounding area. Miranda hauled Nox on to her shoulder and made to look like she was carrying a drunken friend out of the bar. Most of the patrons didn't spare a second glance, but she saw a couple patrons, and Turian man and a human woman in different sections of the bars that seemed to be watching her and Nox. Miranda let out an annoyed growl as a drunken Turian stumbled into her as she pushed on through the entrance.

Things were quiet for a time until she cleared the street outside the bar. The alley was where they were ambushed, but Miranda was ready for them. She threw a grenade back behind her catching the thugs who had followed her from the bar. They were caught unawares and killed in the blast. Miranda strafed to the side, albeit slowly while carrying the unconscious woman, trying to find to place to whole up while she fought off the attackers. She managed to find a dumpster to take cover behind. She set down Nox in the corner where the dumpster met the wall. Miranda then injected Nox with a stimulant to help wake the passed out woman up faster.

Miranda pulled out her pistol and and leaned out from behind the dumpster to fire at the some of the goons that were after her and Nox. They scattered as they approached to avoid her fire. She ducked as a sharpshooter took a pot shot at her, narrowly missing her. Miranda popped out and fired in the direction of the shooter, hopefully forcing the shooter to duck into cover. Another round barely missed her head and made a "ping" sound as it deflected off the crate next to her. Miranda shook her head as she fired at the closest attacker, putting two rounds in the Salarian's chest as he moved up. She ducked once more as more poured in and opened fire.

Nox let a moan as she began to wake up. Miranda popped up again to fire and took a closer look at the armor while she did. It was a mixture of red, white and black. That meant they were the personal strike team of the Shadow Broker, the galaxy's most successful and dangerous information broker.

"Mmmm, what is going on?" The red-haired woman looked around, her eyes adjusting to the alley. She made to get up only for Miranda to push her down.

"Stay down," Miranda ordered.

The red head jumped at a stray shot hit the wall above the dumpster.

"Kark! What the hell is going on?!" Nox blurted out as she rubbed her temples, "Why do I feel like I got hit by a gundark?"

Again ignoring the woman's strange curse and terminology, Miranda replied.

"You were drugged by agents of the Shadow Broker," Miranda quickly leaned out and shot a Turian with three shots to the torso while he was reloading. The first two shot downing his barriers and the third striking him in the heart.

Nox looked over the crates briefly let out small curse and ducked back down as that damn sniper took another shot.

"They beat you to it, huh." Nox chuckled at the annoyed glance Miranda gave her.

Nox sighed.

"Kriff, they are almost as annoying as you lot." Nox commented as she began lifting her pant legs to reveal a pair of steel colored cylinders.

Miranda wanted to watch as the woman began assembling some sort of weapon, but the fire from the Shadow Broker's men kept her busy. While she focused on the commandos in front of her, she failed to notice two men, one human and the other Batarian stalk up the opposite side of the alley.

"Look out!" Nox cried out. Miranda turned but was winged in the shoulder blade. Nox cast out her hand and an unseen force sent the mercs flying end over end into the wall. Miranda eyes widened in shock as she saw no eezo field nor did she feel any biotics radiating from the woman. Again Miranda found herself asking who was this woman?

Nox smiled as she looked back a Miranda, "I can get us out of here, but I have one condition."

Miranda glared at the red head.

"What would that be?"

"Oh nothing much, your name is all I ask."

"What! I am not telling you that!" Miranda yelled, having no time for such games. A shot whizzed past Miranda's head as reinforcements arrived for the mercs. There at least another ten more at her last count. One was a krogan with a mini-gun causing her eyes to widen slightly as the tall lizard man stomped forward. Miranda leaned out to fire still holding her wounded left shoulder. She pulled the trigger and heat sink alarm went off. The system not allowing her to fire anymore shots until the gun cooled. The Krogan's gun began to speed up and let loose chewing away at the dumpster.

Nox let out a bored yawn.

"Offer is still open."

Miranda pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Alright, if it gets us out of here! My name is… Miranda Lawson."

Nox smiled and mouthed the name to herself. She then frowned and looked Miranda.

"You really don't look like a Miranda." she stated

"Just do something already!" Miranda shouted as she shot anther merc and used her biotics to slam a human woman with a rocket launcher into the krogan. He shrugged the attack off and kept firing, not in really noticing.

Nox rolled her eyes and stood up with a cruel smile on her face. The firing stopped as their objective was to probably to capture Nox.

"Stay down." Nox whispered to Miranda in a serious and surprisingly authoritative tone. Miranda watched as Nox held out the long cylinder giving the mercs sent forward to retrieve her pause while the others still stood back. Nox activated the weapon and two long violet blades hissed out from both ends. Nox's smile widened a little more as she looked on at the mercs who now gazed upon the weapon in curiosity like Miranda.

She let out a small chuckle.

"Murder and mayhem await." Her sultry tone breaking the mercs out of their trance. They hefted their weapons and pointed them at Nox. She spun the weapon her hand once and it made a whirring sound as it did so. She then charged the group of mercenaries with an unnatural speed.

* * *

A/N: There was a big time skip but the first part was mostly to see how Nox was adjusting to the Mass Effect verse. She is an alcoholic too, stress from being stuck by herself somewhere completely foreign. Yes, tech in the Mass Effect verse is far outmatched compared to the Galactic Cold War era that Nox comes from in Star wars. I do wonder how the Reapers would fare against Nox's Silencer superweapons if she could create a working prototype.

However I should note that in the time of the Vader and Luke Skywalker the tech level dropped drastically due to a dark age some thousand years prior so during that time at least things would be evened out.

Anyway Shepard will be appearing soon. Not sure if I should go with BroShep or FemShep still haven't decided as I am a fan of both.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is chapter 2. Might be a while before I update again. I have other stories that need tending to at the moment. Reviews and criticism are welcome.

 **Updated 2/5/2016:** Changed a few aspects of the story here and there.

 **Lost in Paradise Ch.2**

Finally being able to cut loose and just have some fun was an immense relief. She had been dogged for so many for years. The STG, The Shadow Broker, and Cerberus never seemed to stop. Always watching and observing her movements forcing her to hide. No more. This was her message to all of them that she wasn't going to go willingly. It was her moment to show them all what she was capable off.

Nox grinned as she charged the two mercs who had moved up first prior to her display. They made to fire, sending mass effect accelerated grains of metal toward her. She spun her lightsaber blocking several. She sent a bolt of electricity at one making the human man's body contort as he was temporary paralyzed. She dodged a final shot from the human woman who had started to backpedal away. Nox's lightsaber lashed out cleaving the woman diagonally from shoulder to sternum. She spun taking the human man's head off on the backswing before the shocks racking his body wore off.

She then laid down a force wave as she finished spinning. The other mercs were knocked back before they could fire back at her knowing that their comrades were well out of the picture. The red armored Krogan who had merely stumbled back a bit regained his footing quickly and begun to cycle his minigun sending a line of continuous fire toward her. Nox used the Force to leap out of the way by stepping off a wall at least a full story up and threw her lightsaber at the krogan as she flew through the air. It arced as it flew heading straight for the krogan. The krogan saw this and leap aside just in time to escape the spinning death wheel by diving out of the way unlike like three of his companions who were cleaved in two as it spun by as they had just got to their feet. His minigun wasn't as lucky either, getting severed into two useless pieces of scrap. The blade came back toward her and she grabbed it before landing on the opposite wall of the alley and propelling her herself back toward the ground. She rolled into a ready stance holding her lightsaber out in front of her while her knees were bent in a crouch.

"Your move _di'kutla_ ," she said using a Mandalorian curse she learned from her best friend and notorious Chiss bounty hunter, Teri. Many of the mercs that had recovered from the force wave and weren't chopped in two, fired at her in response. She whirled her saber around hearing the occasional pop and sizzle as she blocked the incoming fire. She danced around the enemy fire that she couldn't get with her saber with ease looking like a whirlwind of violet light.

When most of their guns had overheated she stopped. She took count of how many. There were around seven left not counting the krogan who had just got back on his feet. All were more wary and waiting for what she wondered? She looked into the mind of a young human man and tore the information from it. He screamed, grabbing his head as she took what she needed from his mind.

When she was done he fell to the ground, his body limp and dying without proper brain function as this technique was not known for subtlety. From what she could gather there were two snipers instead of one. She smiled cruelly and held her hand out and an assault rifle flew from the ground from one of the dead mercs and into her waiting hand. She threw her saber again to force the other mercs into cover as she quickly fired two bursts in quick succession. Each burst of fire traveled toward two separate buildings guided by the Force. Both bursts struck each sniper in the chest, downing k-barriers and piercing armor. She tossed the rifle lazily aside and retrieved her lightsaber as it finished it arc.

The krogan whom hadn't moved for some time, he just stood there observing. The giant lizard man shook his head and trudged off.

"Where are you going?!" one of the batarians in the squad called out.

The dim light of the alley revealed his brow plate to have a reddish hue as he turned to look back at his now former squad.

"I got better things to do than get killed by a magic wielding human of all things," he called back before continuing down the alley.

Nox smirked. Even with helmets on she didn't need the Force to sense their fear and indecision in the mercs except the fool batarian that appeared to be in charge.

"Smart." She looked back from the krogan's retreating from and to the remaining members.

"I suggest you follow suit. I haven't even got to the good stuff yet" she offered them. Three of them did not need much convincing and turned tail to run. The batarian leader and two other equally stupid mercs stayed.

He hefted his massive harpoon rifle, "I plan to take this human bitch out. The Shadow Broker doesn't except failure."

Before he could fire however, Nox pulled out something special she had been working on from behind her back. It a slim looking pistol, small and easy to hide. She took aim and fired in a blink of an eye or in this case two batarian eyes. A red bolt of plasma sailed down the alley, bypassing the batarian's k-barriers with a flicker and imbedding between the four eye slots of his helmet, piercing right into his skull.

Everyone in the alley all had looks of shock as he fell to the ground. Nox herself was shocked as well, mostly because the blaster she spent the last twenty years perfecting didn't explode in her hand for the first time. She had to pull back and examine it to make sure it was still there. The batarians lackeys shared a look and bolted, finally seeing they were far outmatched.

Nox couldn't help but smile as she stood there for a moment before busting out laughing. "That was so fun. I had almost forgotten the feeling." She said to herself as she poudly holstered her blaster and folded her lightsaber in half and attached it to her belt.

"Well, Suspicious and intriguing really doesn't seem to cut it now." Nox turned to see Miranda approaching. She had almost forgotten the beautiful Cerberus agent was even around here.

"I see you didn't flee at my awesome display of power. Good for you."

Nox quipped while making a fist. A little bit of lighting crackled as she did so halting Miranda's pace slightly. _She fears me. Good. It will keep her from trying anything stupid._

Miranda shook her head, "I admit, it was hard to wrap my head around, but it does change things." Her tone was serious and her gaze shifted to Nox's weapons. "It was foolish on your part to reveal your nature and those items."

Nox's face darkened. She was tired of this. She was Sith after all, abate a very laid back one, but still. All this hiding and running was getting to her.

"There is only so far you can chase down a manga cat before she turns and lashes out at you with her claws." The statement seemed to give the Cerberus Agent pause as if she wasn't sure where they stood now considering the semi-friendly report they had moments ago.

"I see, I will take my leave now. C-sec will no doubt be on their way as well." Miranda turned to leave, but Nox grabbed her arm.

Miranda looked back to see the grim look on Nox's face.

"Miranda," it was the first time she heard the woman speak her name aloud. It was spoken in a soft and authoritive manner. Miranda didn't know what to think as she made eye contact.

"Cerberus is untrustworthy and fickle. Get out while you can. Take it from me, I know their kind all too well."

"Cerberus was there for me when I needed them. I will repay my debt to them." Miranda answered coldly.

Nox's concerned face shifted to one of indifference. She shrugged and held up her hands, "Fine, but when you truly decide to break your chains, seek me out."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Miranda asked suspiciously.

"Sorry, need to know. Well, look at the time, I should really get going." Nox said avoiding the question as she made to leave looking at her omni-tool for effect.

"Wait," Miranda grabbed Nox by the shoulders planted another kiss on the woman's lips. Nox was caught by surprise by this action _again_. During the kiss she felt a hand reaching for her lightsaber. Seeing Miranda's true motive Nox broke the kiss.

"Nah uh uh, nice try, but…" She waged her finger in front of the agent's face.

Whatever she was about to do or say next was halted as a siren rang out of distance as C-sec speeders roared their way toward the alley. Nox and Miranda shared a look before they bolted in either direction.

Nox didn't let up her pace until she was at least a block away. She smiled as how rejuvenating this day had felt. She got to cut apart some fools, intimidate a krogan to the point where _he_ is the one who ran away and her first successful field test of her new blaster was a complete succ… she reached for her blaster check on it and found it not in her inner belt holster where she had stored it. It dawned on her that when Miranda reached for her lightsaber that it must have been meant as a feint to reach for her blaster.

She slapped her forehead, "Ah Kark!," she cursed and stomped her foot, "Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!"

She had just practically given away twenty years of hard work, online classes and sheer luck to the very people who were chasing her. She could make another. Her Omni-tool had both the schematics and formula for the gas cartridges.

Miranda, however, had no doubt gone back to her leader like an eager akk dog pup playing fetch. Cerberus having the blaster was bad enough, but perhaps she could still diminish their victory.

She bought up the schematics. Many companies that were ready to put these babies on the market were already set. Proxy Corporations that fed her already vast wealth would do so on an every more massive scale making her the richest entity in the galaxy. She sent the order to start distribution. She smiled as she began to skip along, knowing full well the ripples she was sending throughout this galaxy.

* * *

 **In a matter of months, Nox's blasters revolutionized warfare. Her companies were quick to create and distribute the new weapons even adding mods and creating their own unique style for each. All while fighting corporate battles with each other to remove suspicion that they were all linked. With a mass effect field generator propelling the bolt, the "blaster" as it was dubbed by the mysterious creator** **quickly made its mark on the history of galactic conflict.**

 **Meanwhile Nox was forced to go deeper into hiding as Cerberus and the Shadow Broker redoubled their efforts in capturing her. She was forced to go to the last place a super powered playgirl could find herself in: boot camp.**

 **While under a new identity Nox excelled having already mastered the fourth level of Teräs Käsi martial arts. She also knew some Mandalorian techniques she learned from her friend Teri. Quickly earning herself a trip to the Villa, where the Alliance's best were trained to become N7s. She had resigned to not use the Force out of fear that Cerberus would find her if she did. Though it was mostly to prove to herself that she didn't need the Force, but it was also practical in case she somehow lost her abilities. She eventually earned her N6 after several grueling months of training. She finally achieved the coveted N7 title on small moon during a strike op on a gang of batarian pirates. She now prepares for a shakedown run on the new prototype stealth ship,** _ **The Normandy**_ **…**

* * *

The blaring of her alarm woke Nox or Teri as other people now knew her. She reached up to cover her ears but the deafening sound only increased as she remembered it was coming from her omni-tool. She quickly shut it off and rubbed her eyes. She stretched her arms in a yawn, her right arm bumped into a lump in the sheets next to her. The lump shifted and lifted the covers off her head. A woman with dark brown skin and black hair lifted her bedraggled head and looked at Nox.

She too rubbed her eyes, "Who are you?"

"A good morning surprise," Nox/Teri replied cheerfully.

The woman looked up and down Teri's body and nodded her head tiredly, "I'll say, but all I can remember from last night was explaining to some woman about the rules of chess at that party in the Arcturus bar and… and…"

 **"** She got bored and whisked you away to an apparently random apartment," Nox finished for the woman as she looked around the unknown room.

"Actually I think I did the whisking, seeing as this is my apartment." the dark skinned woman relied, her accent sounding almost Imperial as she yawned and rolled back over, laying her head back on her pillow.

Teri smirked. She loved a good turn around. Her omni-tool alarm went off again, which she silenced quickly. Knowing it would go off again, she checked the time anyway. _0526 hours!_ She was required to be at the _Normandy's_ docking bay by 0600.

"Kriff!" she blurted out. "I'm going to be late!"

She hurriedly got out of the strangers bed. She quickly put on her undergarments which were scattered about the floor along with the slightly skimpy red dress she wore the night before. She grabbed her heels in her hand and bolted out the door. She must have looked a sight as she ran down the corridors getting strange looks from the personal already up. She ran to the temporary quarters she had on the station as Arcturus wasn't known for being small after all. It didn't take her too long to reach her apartment as she may have broken her no force rule just a _tiny_ bit by increasing her speed. She took a very quick shower to wash the sweat and make-up off from last night.

When she exited the shower she practically jumped into the Onyx style armor she was given after completing her N-training. She didn't have time to admire herself or the hard earned N7 badge. She gathered up her sniper rifle and pistol, clipping them to her back as she shot through the apartment door hefting her pre-made gear bag as she went. She was thankful she already packed it before the little party at the Arcturus cantina last night, knowing full well something like this would probably happen. She took off down the hall once more, running a comb through her hair as she jogged down the corridors trying to hopefully look at least somewhat presentable. The design of Arcturus wasn't very noteworthy in this part of the station as this part of the station belonged to the Alliance Military. It reminded her of Imperial hallways in a way with sterile gray metal corridors and low lighting. They did have the occasional blue and gold flag adorned with the Alliance logo every several meters.

She practically skidded to a halt when she reached the Normandy's docking bay. Seeing the ship for the first time was rather dull. It had smooth edges and a wasp-like design. It was very small. Her Fury Class starfighter from her reality was easily about a fifth bigger in volume at least and that was just her personal starship. Compared to the rest of the Sith Empire's fleet. well…

This ship seemed a bit longer than hers, but still. A part of her still couldn't get over what in this reality what was considered a frigate by human standards. She shook her head and walked at a brisk pace toward the walkway that connected the dock to the ship. When she rounded the corner she saw a dark skinned man with a disapproving look whom must have been none other than Captain David Anderson, decorated war hero and the Alliance's first N7. He was dressed in his dress blues and had his arms crossed. He seemed to be waiting, probably for her.

She instantly stood at attention and saluted. He saluted back .

"At ease," he said and she relaxed her pose slightly.

If only her friends could see her now. Teri would be rolling over laughing, while Teri's brother, Cipher Nine would have that annoying smirk on his face and Magor, the Emperor's Wrath would be guffawing at her playing soldier and actually respecting authority.

Cerberus and the Shadow Broker gave her no real choice though, she couldn't spend a single kriffing credit without them noticing or simply walk in the open. So she had to invent a way to sneak past the VI's that tracked her movements. It was a brilliant plan she had a hacker create a new identity and whenever the VI's saw her face they glitched and only saw her new identity file which would crop up and mark her as irrelevant so long as she stuck to her role in the military. Anything actions too out of place would raise suspicion and it would be back dodging hit and capture squads again. She was good at it, but the incident at Chora's Den was an eye opener. Despite all her power, she was still vulnerable and one mistake could cost her everything.

"Lieutenant Fox," she was jerked from her thoughts as the Captain looked at his omni-tool, "you are two minutes behind schedule."

It took a lot of effort for Teri to resist the urge to groan aloud.

"Care to explain your reasons for not being on time." He frowned as he waited for her response. It was one thing about Anderson, he was serious about almost everything.

Teri rubbed the back of her neck, "uhhhhh… sir… well… you see?"

He raised his hand to silence her and she clamped up, "Then again I am sure that whatever it was, it was important enough to be late for a monumental shakedown run of a new prototype stealth ship that many others not in your place would be drooling to have right now."

"Sir I…" she held up her finger to argue and he waved his hand dismissively, cutting her off again.

"Not to worry LT, I've read your file. Your habit of being late is easily manageable." Anderson said with the same frown.

"Sir?" she asked as she felt the amusement begin to roll off the captain. How he kept a straight face, she could only guess.

"Now you better get your things stowed and make yourself useful. It will be six hours before everyone else not including the engineering staff gets here. Good day Lieutenant." He turned sharply on his heel and walked into the Normandy no doubt heading straight to his quarters leaving her at the entrance. She sighed and followed, realizing the man had a small sense of humor or irony after all. One thing about being early, at least she could plant a flag near the best sleeper pod.

* * *

 **A/N** : No Shepard yet, but he/she will be appearing shortly. Nox's presence is finally starting to make waves. Blasters are too awesome not to have after all. You will see more of their overall effect next chapter. Anyway hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the wait. Work and more work had kept me occupied for the last month. Sorry for any mistakes in advance. Anyway reviews and criticism are welcome.

 **Lost in Paradise Ch.3**

She felt the flow of everything, from the soft touches of the pilot's hands on the interface in the cockpit to the quartermasters mumbling about a lost pistol. She listened and felt more as she meditated, from Anderson's worried pacing to Shepard's neutral observations of the crew. It was the usual hustle and bustle of a ship… wait… why was that man nervously typing messages and sending them outbound. Perhaps he is agent of the Shadow Broker or Cerberus. She smirked, he will be dealt with in time.

She was going to go deeper into the flow of the force when she sensed the presence of Nihlus, the Turian Spectre who was here to monitor Commander Shepard. He was looming quietly near her location. Why else would a Spectre be here? The Eden Prime run was a just to test the new stealth drive the ship had been fitted with. Humanity had bitching for the longest time for a human Spectre. Of course she had sensed more from Anderson, but was too respectful to go further in to the man's mind, not that she could as strong willed as the man was.

Shepard was a hell of a soldier. He was able to fend of waves of slavers on Elysium while leading a mere rag tag militia five years ago. Who wouldn't want him in the ranks of the most dangerous operatives in the galaxy? He may not be the most subtle agent they ever had, but if the Council needed a hammer, he was it. All they had to do was find a spot to place the nail.

While she felt a bit… no completely full of herself just thinking about this. Nihlus could be after her. Her missions were successful and involved many dead slavers in the Skillian Verge. She thought fondly of her favorite mission where the ship she was stationed on was attacked and boarded by Batarian slavers. Nox was captured and put in the airlock. They wanted to demoralize the crew by venting the only N7 aboard into space.

Ah… the looks on those four eyed _karkheads_ after they opened the airlock and she came out with her lightsaber hacking and slicing them apart. She had held the air in the airlock using the Force and turned invisible letting them think she was blown out. She retook the ship, got a medal, and the rest was history… and bizarre speculation.

She felt the Turian Spectre silently approach down the walkway. He had been doing that too much to the crew recently, the sneaking. Nox was sure it harmless. Nihlus was no doubt used to being silent in his work.

"Yes, Spectre?" she asked as he approached, her tone was calm and serene. She kept her face neutral, but could not help but smile on the inside as he hesitated in his step ever so slightly. A clear sign to her at least, she caught him by surprise.

"Ah, Lieutenant Fox is it? I have been looking for you." He moved to stand beside her, trying to cover his surprise.

She opened her eyes, the force sight that replaced her vision and other senses disappearing as she did so. She looked up at the Turian who towered over her. They were an avian like race, tall and very agile. He had dark plates with white colony markings on his face. His armor seemed top of the line as well, black with red highlights. Very expensive, no doubt could shrug off a blaster bolt or two as well. Armor had to nowadays.

Of course it was very expensive for such armor and it couldn't block a straight shot either. Old style k-barriers were useless as well. They were designed to deflect small grains of metal, not plasma which was bigger and ended up using far more power to deflect than a standard power core could produce. Barriers that could deflect bolts were generally gimmicks sold by con men for a quick buck. If she could only recreate an Enchani energy shield than she would be very rich indeed.

"What for?" she asked.

"I would like to inquire as to what you know about the Commander?" Nihlus asked, his mandibles twitching slightly as he did so. So he was here for the Commander. She sensed something else however, much like with Anderson it wasn't to do with the commander. No, there was more to this mission and they were hiding it. Of course it did not take a Force User to connect the dots. Scuttlebut was buzzing with rumors about the supposed shakedown run being more than it was.

Teri frowned as she recalled what she knew about the Commander, "Mostly what everyone else knows. That he is a war hero and a hell of soldier. The rare type that seem to bash through their enemies like tissue paper. Apart from that I couldn't tell any more than you already know."

Nihlus nodded, "Thank you for your input." He turned to walk away before Teri spoke up.

"He'll make an excellent candidate," Teri smirked as Nihlus' mandibles twitched ever so slightly at her deduction. He continued to on his way before he paused and looked back at Teri who still sat in a meditative stance resting on the back of her heels, eyes closed and looking serene. People didn't stick around long when she meditated. The dark aura that surrounded her and seeped into their bones generally drove them away.

"Perhaps he is not the only one." He whispered as he continued on seemingly unaffected, Teri saw him take the stairs to the CIC, probably to the catch the commander or observe the the human crew a bit more.

Whatever the case was she resumed her meditation, recalling memories of her former life with almost perfect clarity. It was a technique she learned a while ago and she applied it to her force abilities. She could get lost for hours in the memories of her old comrades and nemeses. The most painful were of her love, Lana Beniko.

She still remembered the day they were introduced. She was invited by Darth Artcus to attend a war briefing. Lana was there as an advisor and apprentice. She smiled at how she was struck breathless when she saw Lana. It wasn't just her natural beauty that caught the great and powerful Darth Nox off guard. It was her poise and the way carried herself. Her voice flowed like water much like her beautiful golden mane of hair.

The moment their eyes met, Nox had felt something that she had never truly felt before… love. She was no stranger to passion. In the brothel she grew up in, passion was its very life-blood. Love was entirely new to her. Painfully so.

When Darth Artcus revealed himself to be a fanatical follower of Revan, an insane ex-Jedi/Sith who wanted to resurrect the Sith Emperor. The very same Sith Emperor who wanted to consume all life in the galaxy. Did she mention Revan was insane?

After the resurrection, Revan planned to kill the Sith Emperor which was foolish to believe he could. In the end, Revan died as he lived, a coward. He chose to end his worthless life and live as force ghost far away from the Emperor's grasp and the problem he created. Nox had plans for him upon her hopeful return, oh yes she did.

Prior to Artcus' betrayal he declared Lana a criminal and forced her to go into hiding, it was the most grueling month Nox had ever felt. No amount of trying on clothes, buying new shoes, and or even having her agents' dose Darth Ravage's caffa with a mild sedative before Dark Council meetings to keep that _di'kut_ from talking too much. It couldn't take her mind of the reserved and patient Sith.

She remembered the joy that replaced her anxiety when they reunited on Rishi. Nox chuckled as she remembered how she could barely keep up her cool façade, resisting the urge to swoon every time she heard the soft sound of blonde's voice. She felt an even worse pain after defeating that fool of fools, Revan. Lana ended their relationship because she was promoted to the Head of Imperial Intelligence, Nox felt as if her heart was crushed by an invisible hand.

Even through the pain Nox understood why, they had too many enemies, both foreign and domestic that would turn their love into a weapon. It wasn't until the resurrected Emperor, now an incorporeal entity. Again thanks Revan. It was when he consumed all the life on the Imperial planet of Ziost that they rekindled their relationship. The galaxy was ending after all.

The Emperor disappeared for a time. It didn't last as the Emperor showed his ugly face once again. Eight heroes, four of the Empire, Four of the Republic, faced him and trapped him a Rakata Mind trap on Tatooine. That arrogant Jedi knight thought he should be the one to take on the Emperor's essence and burn it off as force energy. Unfortunately for her she was the only one qualified. She was changed by the Mother Machine on Belsavis making her technically immortal by giving her body a healing factor that could handle the degradation a body went through when housing any type of Force spirits. Another long story that one. Her mind was also fortified through Voss rituals. She, very reliantly did so.

She remembered Lana rushing up to her, tears lining her eyes and her normally calm face was shattered with emotion. Nox remembered how their last kiss seemed like an eternity. So long, yet not long enough. Nox bid her love goodbye and touched the Mind Trap. She remembered the power she felt as she siphoned off the Emperor's energy killing him, increasing her own and for a brief moment she was the most powerful person to ever exist in the galaxy. It sent her here, to this alternate universe, where she was trapped.

Nox opened her eyes and held back the tears that were building, threatening to break through their flood gates. She rubbed her eyes, and made to stand up. Her legs were a little shaky as she did so. She stumbled a bit, only for someone to catch her arm. She looked up into the bright blue eyes of none other than Commander Shepard.

That man had a long scar down the right side of his face over his eye and down to his jaw. His brown hair was buzzed down to the skin of his head. His pale skin was pocket marked with what looked like shrapmetal scars. He had a concerned look on his face seeing Teri's jumbled state.

"Everything fine Lieutenant?" he asked.

She regained her composer quickly, doing her best to hide anymore emotion then he'd already scene, "Yes Commander, just taking a nap." She covered before quickly walking away.

The commander nodded, thankfully not prying as he stepped past her. He went to his sleeper pod to retrieve his gear to outfit his arsenal with his own weapons. She herself had already been suited up so she left the pods and walked past the Med-bay where the nice medical officer the name of Chakwas was going over the crews notes. She kept walking until she reached the elevator and took it down to the engineering bay.

That is when it struck her, a vision. She saw many things Nihlus being killed by another turian, a large ship that looked like some sort of aquatic squid, a young marine being torn to pieces by blaster fire, and Shepard being lifted into the air by a device.

A hand moved in front of her face. She looked up to see a young engineer looking at her with a confused expression. She found she was leaning on the wall of the elevator for support.

"Sorry," Teri mumbled as she shoved past him. Making her way to the armory, she couldn't help but remember the vision. Something was going down and she needed to be ready.

* * *

She was now a glorified babysitter. The worst part was being… she volunteered. When Nihlus went out on his own she jumped after him not before convincing Shepard to let Alenko take point. Nihlus was less than pleased to have a shadow as they moved to find the Prothean beacon that was apparently the big secret that they were keeping aboard the ship. The beacon currently resided on a colony called Eden Prime. Teri soon proved she wasn't going to be a liability. Completely disappearing from sight using the Force she would flank the geth droids that were infesting the area giving Nihlus some extra cover. Her vision still made her nervous.

Zash, her former Master often said that future was hard to predict. It changed constantly and was never truly set in stone. Nox never really payed her master much mind as Zash would often go on about visions of her apprentice's great future making the lesson's lesson null.

She tried not to think of Zash too much, as it would sour her mood for the entire mission. She focused her rifle on a geth trooper droid letting loose a powerful shot from her sniper rifle. The compressed plasma bolt shattered the droids heads bypassing its powerful shields in a signal shot. As it fell she fired another shot taking careful aim, downing another droid. Cloaked in the force the other droids couldn't see her until she shot once more and calculated a lock on her position.

They had passed a clearing were the alliance troops defending the beacon were cut down by geth weapons. There were few survivors. Teri and Nihlus left them as the Beacon was the priority. It had been moved.

She fired again. The droids proved smarter than most and locked to her position and let loose a hail of blind fire on the area she was at. She smirked as she saw Nihlus sneaking past them, completely unaware of his presence. She ran along the side of the cliff and stopped quickly to re-aim, dropping yet another two geth. They swiveled their guns at her again, their own unique plasma weapons shredding and scorching the area around her. She was already gone. She ran, dropping her force cloak as she approached Nihlus' position. He kept his eyes forward, scanning the area as she silently crept up beside him.

"Nice work," He silently greeted not taking his eyes off the area in front of him.

"I really am the best." She shrugged stating it as a fact, earning the turian equivalent of a raised eyebrow from the Spectre.

"Shepard, I am approaching the tram station. It appears the beacon had been moved already. I going to go on ahead." Nihlus commed Shepard.

Shepard didn't reply over the radio as there was no need. Teri could hear the shots and explosion down the way behind her via her Force enhanced senses. She turned to see Nihlus already gone. She rolled her eyes and shrouded herself in the Force once again, covering Nihlus' advance toward the unloading bay once more.

She kept her Force senses open, it did her little good other to act as an early warning signal. Droids, even ones like the geth held no Force signature. They could sit in the outlying parts of the clearing wait until the last second to turn on. She didn't follow Nihlus up the loading ramp instead kept her distance. The current backdrop Nihlus had entered looked very similar to where she saw him dying in her vision. She kept her movement slow and deliberate, trying to not to draw attention to herself. That is when she saw the other Turian from her vision. He was half a head taller than Nihlus and had a prosthetic arm. His armor was a dull blue and gray color. Nihlus let down his guard instantly as he recognized his fellow Turian, his rigid stance becoming more relaxed.

"Saren?" he called out unsure of what to make of his colleague's presence in a battle zone.

Teri meanwhile watched the conversation play out and waited for the inedible betrayal. Her rifle pointed in the turian's direction. Nihlus looked around trying to discern her position. He could not. Saren seemed to notice as well.

"Someone else with you?" Saren asked.

She turned on her camera, Saren was a big name among the Spectres. He was at least considered one of if not the greatest in history of their organization. Why would he be here?

"Yes, a human special forces soldier was with me. What are you doing here?" Nihlus asked seeing the other Turian looking for Teri.

"They sent me as extra help. They feared that a Terminus warlord or the like would try and take it. Granted the Geth were not what they expected," Nihlus took the information at face value. Teri could see that they knew each other well. Well enough for Nihlus to turn his back. Saren drew his pistol quickly and tried to get a shot off. Teri was faster and shot the pistol out of his hand, her cloak fading as she did so. Years of training kicked in and Nuhlis sprang into action. Trading blows with the other Turian. Teri couldn't shoot without risking Nihlus. The Force was out of the question. On a Council mission like this that would lead to too many questions and labs full of scientists ready to cut her open. She could handle Cerberus and the Shadow Broker, they both wanted to keep this quiet. To study her in secret for their own purposes. The Council finding out would mean a life on the run for at least a century.

Saren kept the fight hand-to-hand, no doubt realizing the same thing she did. She was ready to fire though as they exchanged blows, waiting for an opening. Two Geth destroyers rounded from the walkway leading from the tram. She fired at the first killing it. The other got a shot off and managed to clip Nihlus in the leg with its shotgun after Saren pushed him back. He fell to the ground with a grunt, purple blood leaking from the wound. Teri choose to destroy the Geth before it fired another round. Saren was gone however, using the Geth interruption to cover his escape. She saw as he turned the corner to the ramp which led to the tram. Teri took off after him, her speed augmented by the Force she bounded around the corner.

She skidded to a halt seeing a red-armored juggernaut class geth droid if her Quarian classifications were correct. It was flanked by several troopers. They opened fire. She smirked. Being out of sight of Nihlus allowed her leap above their fire. When she landed she was enshrouded in Force lighting. She cast out her hands and unleashed a torrent of purple lighting on the droids. Their circuits overloaded and some even exploded into piles of wires and cooling fluid. The Juggernaut itself convulsed violently before slamming to the ground, a smoking steel husk.

With the Geth out of the picture, she saw Saren just reaching one of the trams. The traitor must have seen the fight as he looked back. He turned to see her as one of the two trams started off down the railline. His mandibles in the turian equivalent of shock and rage. Nox snarled and prepared to leap onto the train from up above the balcony.

"Lieutenant," She turned to see Shepard just running around the corner. He looked at her funny seeing the scattered geth corpses and the tram taking off.

"Commander, we have to go. That turian is with the geth. I don't why that is, but he is getting away," She growled hoping Saren's escape would distract Shepard from unwanted questions.

He nodded, "Kaidan can take care of Nihlus until the Normandy can pick him up. Chief Williams, Jenkins let's go!" He called back as he rounded the corner to face his other squad memebers.

"This man might know something Commander." Teri heard a husky feminine voice call back.

"We'll interrogate the dock worker later! We have to get to the docks. ASAP!" Shepard ordered.

Dock worker? _Kark!_ Teri thought, _did he see me?!_

Teri was drawn from her worrying thoughts as saw the white and pink armored woman who was fighting off the Geth earlier with the soldier defending the site. Her thoughts of a potential witness left her distracted. She was glad to see that the young marine, Jenkins, did not perish. Jenkins had that youthful enthusiasm she no longer had. It was refreshing to see anyone nowadays.

Williams was a mess, not physically, but mentally. She had just witnessed her entire squad cut down by droids with flashlight heads. Her mind may have been reeling still, but the new mission had steeled her resolve by giving her something to focus on other than her dead unit.

Shepard was the calm in the storm she noticed. His mere presence seemed to offer Jenkins and Williams a sense a focus. If Shepard was a force sensitive, Teri would have pegged him for having a Battle Meditation. A force ability that allowed one to increase the morale and courage of their fellows in battle. Sith too, used this ability if they had it only they did so to demoralize their enemies instead.

They made their way to the tram controls and began their journey to the docking bay hoping to catch the rogue Turian before he made off with the beacon.

A/N: I went with Broshep mostly because I was struck by a bolt of inspiration that allowed me to delve deeper into the Earthborn origin. I actually wrote two different Shepards, one male and one female to choose between them. I had a hard time choosing. I think things will work out though.

 **Nox's opinion of Revan** : Sorry to any Revan fans for what seemed like bashing. It wasn't. It was just Nox's warped Sith-like opinion of the man. They have a tendency of seeing things their way. She also fails to acknowledge that without Revan and his cult, she would have never met Lana to begin with.

If you are wondering who my other Star Wars: the Old Republic heroes for this story are:

Imperial classes

IXati Darkken (aka Darth Nox and she does spell the first two letters of her real first name capital): Female Human/Enchani cross Sith Inquistior with Lana Beniko romance (Darkside)

Megor Duskbringer: Male Sith Pureblood Warrior with Jaesa Romance (Dark side)

Cipher Nine (Teri's brother and his real name along with Teri's are too hard to pronounce): male Chiss Imperial Agent with Raina Tempe romance. (Dark side)

Teri Cadara: female Chiss Bounty Hunter with Torian and Mako romance. (Neutral)

Republic classes

Kolf Spacerider: male human Jedi Knight with Kira romance (Light side)

Joana Spark: female Miraluka with Felix Iresso romance (Light Side)

Erikira Darkken: female Human with Corso Riggs romance (Mostly light side with a little Dark thrown in.)

Jer Okkar: Male Mirialan Republic trooper with Elara Dorn romance. (Neutral)

They may not play a big role in the story, but anything can happen. Megor for certain at least won't be coming as he has to deal with the Knights of the Fallen.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This chapter gave me a bit of trouble. I had to rewrite it a few times. I think it turned out alright, though. Reviews and criticism are welcome.

The walls were moving shaking, falling apart. Cracks could be seen in the dark steel and red lights flickered as Nox walked along the remnants of her meditation chamber. Finally they gave way and exploded outward revealing the stars of the galaxy, her galaxy. It was quite the view as she marveled at the stars and that swirled around the core.

What was she here, standing with this magnificent view. Her thoughts sped wildly as she tried to recall, and then she remembered how she got here in this dreamscape. Something happened with the Prothean beacon. It drug her and Shepard into it. She looked outward at the dreamscape wondering what was going on.

"An amazing sight is it not?" A deep baritone voice said next to her.

She turned to see a middle aged man with graying hair and beard. He was dressed in bright white armor with black cloth in between the armor plates. His front chest piece had a serpent-like insignia on it as well.

This stranger she saw was anything but as she felt his force signature. He smiled at her recognition.

"You!" she growled, reaching for her lightsword. Her hand grasped at nothing, however. She looked down and saw she was in her armor which she had kept in a safe place for the time being. It was all black, plated with overlapping plates of Mandalorian iron, curtesy of her friend Teri. It had various animal teeth poking out of her gauntlets and shoulder pads. A black belt-skirt hung from her hips to her knees. A giant black puffy fur collar that went up to the base of her ears was wrapped around her shoulders.

The armor change was only minor and her lack of her weapon wasn't a big issue. She had other weapons at her disposal. She reached out her hands let loose a torrent of Force lightning. The purple bolts arced and raced toward the white clad figure.

He let out a small chuckle as it passed harmlessly through him, not even laying a scratch on his armor's surface.

"If you are done fooling around we have much to discuss." He stated plainly, his pale face emotionless, but his voice betrayed annoyance.

"I will not discuss anything with you, you butcher. You should be dead. I killed you." Her shock was carefully hidden behind her anger, but the Emperor could see it regardless.

He smirked, "Were it so easy to kill an Immortal entity such as I. What you thought you destroyed was a mere fragment, nothing more." He walked up to her and stood closer to her, "and even that now resided in you.

She wanted to snuff him out right there, but that cruel smile stopped her. There was nothing she could do.

He stalked around her, sizing her up. "Such fire. I now see why slavery, Korriban, your master, and Thanaton could not break you. Funny it took eradicating an entire planet to see it, but you were something of myself I wished to keep. A reminder." He turned his back to her lost in thought.

His high and mighty attitude was grating, but she forced herself to speak and ask the one question that had been weighing on her mind since he had revealed himself.

"Was it you who brought me here?" her tone a bit somber and content with his presence.

She could almost see the amusement radiating off him.

"Yes and no. It was not part of the plan to be honest. I had intended for you to be lured to my Empire in Zakuul, but your friends tracked one of my fragments instead. I took the opportunity to solve another problem in the process. Of course if you should return it may yet happen. I know Darth Marr had been busy gathering a force to find me."

"Fifty years and just now he is starting to look…" she stopped and considered that perhaps this reality moved faster than hers. The Emperor nodded in approval as she came to the conclusion without having to.

"And another fifty years and only another week would go by in ours at least with the current state of the gateway. If it is tampered with, that may change. That is not the reason I brought you here, however." He turned back to face her.

"Then why?" she spread her arms out. "Why did you bring me here? To this place, this hell."

His response came without that annoying look, "Because this reality harbors a darkness. One that is uncaring or unforgiving…"

"So, it's like you then," Nox snarled.

The Emperor glared at his fire colored eyes narrowed at her, but continued past her interruption.

"This force of repetition has been a threat to this reality for many eras, but soon it may even become a threat to ours as well as these two realities have been linked for some time. I brought you here to stop it once and for all before it comes to our own." He finished, looking to Nox for a response.

Her hands balled into fists, her anger creating a red mist around her. She was beyond angry. She didn't want this. She wanted to go back to be with Lana. He took that away. Among all the rage one other thought stood out. Her sacrifice was for nothing.

The son of a kath hound standing in front of her tricked her.

All he did was stand there, waiting her to calm down. He half expected her to attack him. She proved smarter than many would have done and forced herself to calm down. Her rage and hate would only get her so far. Instead she used it as a focus.

"Are you done?" he asked with a bored tone, ready to continue. She gave a curt nod.

"Good, this presence is composed of an ancient machine race that wipes out organic life every fifty thousand years. Their motives are a mystery other than what is apparent, but they must be stopped before they find the door to our reality. That is your mission. Why I have sent you here. Now you must wake. Your friend Shepard however…"

His face became deep in thought as he focused on the Commander.

"Interesting… was it the beacon I wonder…" he muttered. Nox was about to ask his thoughts.

"No, you must go. Protect Shepard and you may yet see your love again."

Nox didn't even get a chance to give a snarky reply as everything around her faded away. She opened her eyes to the Med bay of the Normandy. She did not get up, but laid there for some time thinking about the message from the Emperor. She wanted to fall back to sleep to demand more answers when she heard a groan from the table to the left of her. She looked to see the Commander laying on the cot next to her and Doctor Chakwas racing over to him to check his vitals.

She remembered when they reached the opposite end of the tram. Disabling bombs and saving the colony. When they secured the Beacon, the Corporal and the Chief had gotten too close to the beacon. Shepard and herself pulled them out strange field only for them to both be sucked into beacons grasp instead. The beacon blew up, but not before imparting information on Nox and Shepard's minds.

She let out a groan as well and rubbed her temples. She saw Chakwa's moving to check her vitals on the monitors next.

The door to the med bay opened with a hiss, letting Captain Anderson walk in. He immediately began his interrogation of the Shepard. Shepard recounted the vision of doom that he had received. Nox gave a "same here," and they were briefed on how the Council reacted to the mission. It wasn't good, with Nihlus injured and the beacon exploding.

Speaking of Nihlus, the third cot on her right side still contained his unconscious form. Nihlus had almost died of blood loss as his plasma burned wound had torn open when he fell. At least he was alive.

"Sir, but what about that other Spectre, Saren, the turian that Lieutenant Fox and Nihlus encountered? Surely the Council wouldn't ignore one of their agents working with the Geth." Shepard inquired.

Fox felt the anger welling off in waves as the Captain stiffened slightly at the mention of the Turians name. "Saren," the Captain let out a low growl.

"Sir?" Shepard asked once more.

"You are both dismissed, I must have a word with Doctor Chakwas." They were practically shooed out, but they left.

They were practically assaulted by Chief Williams, who apologized for stepping too close to the beacon with Jenkins. Nox took the opportunity to see if Williams was alright mentally. The loss of her crew must still be weighing on her. It must have been hard to lose so many good friends in comrades. Nox could relate in some small way having a whole dimension between her and those she held dear. Ashley's mental state was better, the storm of despair and rage having subsided for now.

Nox stayed behind as Shepard went up to the bridge with Williams. She had seen the Citadel before so she let the two get some sightseeing done. Nox had more important things to do. She leaned her back on the darkened med bay windows. Anderson stomped out of the med bay a moment later and went to his quarters. She gave a half-hearted salute which he didn't return and began to focus.

She focused on Nihlus' leg, using the force to calmly repair it. It was a light-side technique, but that made more crucial. It allowed her to help the mending along instead brute forcing it like the darker art of healing she used on the battlefield. She felt Nihlus' body slowly, but surely began to mend faster. After a few minutes of this, she was jarred from her thoughts.

"Hey you alright." She looked to her left and saw a hand laid on her shoulder. It belonged to Lieutenant Alenko and his ridiculous haircut.

She shrugged despite sensing his concern and attraction. She would have to let him know about her disposition soon. His concern was the most prominent however.

"I'm fine, that beacon just jumbled up my brain a little bit." She remarked casually.

"I see, that's good that you're alright… and the Commander too of course," he added swiftly. Nox gave a snort at his fumble. She shook her head pushing herself off the med bay window.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Well, I best be going, the ship will approaching the Citadel soon."

"Eh," Nox shrugged.

Lieutenant Alenko just walked off seeing this conversation not really going anywhere.

Nox felt a bit bad for not being her usual annoying self, but her mood was soured from her chat with the dream invading Emperor. She sighed and shook her head.

"Might as well get ready to go ashore." She made her way to her sleeper pod to prepare for the Normandy's arrival to the over-hyped space station that was the Citadel. On the way she deleted all her suit camera footage. It was necessary of course. Questions would be raised as to why the footage cuts out before she rounds the corner of the docking bay. So it all had to go out the airlock. Pity without Nihlus conscious, it would have helped greatly during the hearing. She would just have to test Saren's mind come the hearing. Perhaps she could make him slip up.

The hearing was held in the council chambers. The place was shiny and pristine as usual. There were pink cherry trees that the Alliance gave to the Council. Yawn. The Alliance could be so Republicy sometimes.

All this place needed was red and gold carpeting and it would have looked almost like the senate building on Coruscant if the pictures her agents sent her of the senate building were accurate.

Shepard's ground team, David Anderson and the Human Ambassador were present. Anderson still felt like ball of anger and frustration as posture was tense and wound up. Uldina was annoyed though mostly from having to stand with the rabble which included Shepard, herself, Alenko and Williams. Jenkins, being only a Corporal waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs. Nox snorted as she crossed her arms while they waited for the Council.

The Three Council members entered. The Asari Councilor, Tevos was her name opened the hearing while Spartacus and Valern, the Turian and Salarian councilors respectively waited patiently at her side. Nox let out a small bored sigh which earned her a sideways glare from Uldina. His balding and pale face showing his increasing displeasure at her presence.

Shepard, who had seen the whole exchange, shook his head at her lack of professionalism and gave her a warning look, to which she stuck her tongue out at him. He frowned and shook his head again.

That is when Saren decided to grace them all with his presence by appearing via Holocall. Of course he had to appear two stories tall, towering over everyone in the room like some sort of messiah. Her thoughts drifted to her cult on Hutt planet moon of Nar Shada. Her worshippers were always an odd bunch, using the cult to gather followers and power and yet still actually believed in her power unlike most cults which were just cons on city moon. Of course having him not in the room made probing his thoughts a bit difficult to do without her able to lock on to where he was.

Tevos gestured to the holopad, "Saren, you have been called to defend yourself against accusations the Alliance has brought forth."

"The Alliance would say anything to cover up their incompetence. I would take no part in such action, especially with the Geth of all things, and the preposterous accusation that I attempted to kill Nihlus. I trained him myself. " Saren defended.

"That just let you catch him off guard." Anderson shouted as his anger that had been building since Eden Prime finally boiled over. Nox wasn't the only one who looked over at Anderson. Shepard had a shocked look having never expected his mentor to make an outburst like that. Nox then felt a wave of smugness roll off Saren and she realized this was what Saren wanted. To bait Anderson. And judging from Anderson's anger, they had known each other. _Those rumors I heard a few years ago about some secret mission must be true then._

"Captain Anderson, It doesn't surprise me you are here. You always seem to be around when accusations are thrown my way." Saren's amusement rolled off him even more as he used his biggest sabaac piece. The way he kept the turian equivalent of a straight face was almost impressive.

Nox wouldn't let this stand of course. Saren called the Systems Alliance incompetent and much more importantly by extension… _her_. She would get him back for this.

So she smiled, and stepped forward, "Whatever little spat you two have going on is far from important, and hardly relevant. I mean, after all using Anderson to shift the blame from you is an interesting strategy." Nox had rely on some subtle force persuasion to get the Council to dismiss Anderson's and Saren's outburst as mere dislike for one another. Anderson still gave her a death glare that could have melted Hoth.

Nox was unfazed as she continued knowing full well she was trying to help Anderson. She waved her hand dismissively, "Regardless, I would like to present my account of Saren's involvement." She placed her fingers on her chest, "I am the star witness after all."

Tevos was the first to speak as she seemed to have come out of Nox's trance first. Having a reliable witness who could attest to Saren's supposed involvement seemed to speed up the Council's mind.

"That would help move things along I believe." Tevos looked to the other Councilors who nodded in approval.

Saren seemed at a loss, having his biggest and easiest way to end this hearing without much fuss cast aside. It didn't help Saren that Nox was able to subtly infiltrate the Councils minds with her words. If Nox learned anything about Asari in the time she had been in this reality was that Mind Tricks were hard to get by them. Nox was careful to stop her force application before Tevos caught on. The other too councilors were still being persuaded. If she could convince Tevos, she could turn this trial around.

Nox recounted her mission and how Saren was there, then Shepard, Kaidan, and Ashley each gave theirs.

It seemed like they were making Headway until… "What about the vision Shepard and Fox saw when they were exposed to the Beacon?!" Nox wanted to face palm right then and there. Anderson was a brilliant officer and tactician. A politician however, not so such.

Saren was quick to jump on this, "Am I defending myself against visions now." His voice filled with annoyance and skepticism.

"Saren is right!" Spartacus said voicing his opinion loudly, "These visions hold no validity in this hearing."

Nox wanted to sigh a loud as she watched as the hearing went downhill from there. That is when she felt a tremor in the Force. It was distant, coming from one of the wards, but she felt it. A Force Sensitive. Everything else held little relevance to her after the felt the presence. She had yet to come across one for a while now. She paid little attention as they walked off the stand. She didn't even hear Uldina chew Anderson out. It wasn't until she saw a hand wave in front of her eyes that, she snapped out of it.

"Are you okay?" She looked to see Shepard standing there giving her a concerned look.

"What, sorry I wasn't paying attention?"

"You were pretty out of it." He said.

She waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, don't worry about it. I was just…" she looked in the direction of the distracting presence.

Shepard nodded, "We may a have lead. Got to talk to a C-sec officer named Harkin."

"That's great," she rubbed her head and groaned, feigning a headache.

Shepard shook his head, "I'll take Ashley and Kaidan. You should head to the Normandy, that beacon might have affected you more than me."

She nodded, "Yes, sir." They parted ways after exiting the elevator. She almost bumped into a keeper while the presence the force sensitive gave off distracted her. _Eww,_ she shivered a bit. The weird little insectoids tended to give her the creeps so she scrambled out of the way, freaking out a little.

She straightened out her posture immediately after as if nothing happened and began to reach out to the Force to find that signature she felt earlier. It seemed distressed like it was running from something.

The trial led to the wards where she followed it. Passing through alleyways and dark side streets It was hard to pin down. She would always be the last to admit she was bad at anything. Tracking with the Force was as she would very reluctantly admit not her best skill.

She rounded the next bend and walked down the alley somewhere near that bar she got in that scuffle a few years ago. What she found surprised her as she honed in on the Force sensitive. To be honest she was expecting a turian or asari, not a Quarian. Judging from the nervous wringing of her hands and the fact she was outside the Quarian Flotilla, Nox had to guess that this Quarian was young, around eighteen or nineteen maybe. She had to be on her pilgrimage, a Quarian tradition where they sent their young out to bring something back that would help the Flotilla.

Nox appraised the girl's physical features next… the ones most visible under the enviro-suit she wore at least. Taking in the gracious curves that Quarian women were known for. Of course she also noticed a new patch in her suit to the left side of her lower abdomen indicating the girl had been shot at some point.

She felt the girl's force signature again and she was indeed force-sensitive, very interesting. Even the Fragment of the Emperor took notice. She was nowhere near Nox's level of power, but this girl was the strongest and only force user in this reality she had met by far.

The young Quarian finally turned around and noticed her there. She jumped a bit.

"Oh, Keelah, I didn't see you there," she almost shouted with more nervous hand wringing.

Nox raised an eyebrow, "Waiting for someone are we?"

"Yes… I mean no… unless you're the contact I was supposed to meet?" the girl fumbled over her words to which Nox found absolutely _adorable_ especially with that little accent of hers.

"No I don't think so, but I was looking for something or someone." Nox answered leaning back on one leg while crossing her arms.

"Oh, than why are you still…"

"Hey! You were told to come alone!" They both looked to see a Turian mercenary flanked by two Salarian bodyguards walked down the stairs of the other end of the alleyway.

The Quarian seemed to exit out of her jumbled demeanor, standing more guarded than before. The Turian approached while still keeping his eyes on the armed and very dangerous Nox. Sensing the turian's thoughts, Nox saw he was working for Saren, but that didn't make sense unless finding this girl was no accident. These were times when she hated how the Force worked with its roundabout ways of leading one on a path.

"Did you hear me suit-rat?! Why didn't you some alone?!" he repeated harshly.

"Why didn't you come alone?" the young Quarian answered back defensively. Nox was impressed by the girl's moxy, but could still feel that fear and nervousness behind the façade she was trying to hold. _She needs to learn to control that fear,_ Fox mentally noted.

"I never said I was the one coming alone. Now do you have it?" The turian stepped closer leering at the girl. The Quarian shifted nervously and Nox felt the girl's indecision. So Nox huffed drawing the Turian's attention once more.

The Sith Lord then decided to step in between the two. Nox didn't want to cause too much of ruckus and draw unneeded attention. She opted for the subtle approach instead. Using the force she influenced the thugs' minds.

"I think you have the wrong alley, I was just taking my girlfriend here to the bar down the way you see." She grabbed the young girl with her left arm around the waist and pulled her close. She leaned over and whispered quickly, "Play along."

The Quarian proved to be a quick learner and looked very persuasive by leaning in close and leaned her head on Nox's shoulder.

"So I believe this may not be in fact the Quarian you're looking for," She waved her hand in front of the Turian's face, putting the final touch on the mind trick.

"This isn't the Quarian we are looking for," the turian mimicked in a toneless voice.

"We can move along now," Nox waved once more.

"Move along, move along," the turian dismissed them with a wave. For effect Nox pulled the girl closer and perhaps her hand drifted a bit lower than permitted as she felt a gentle slap. Nox had to admire this girl, she had fire. The girl looked back to see the thug's still standing there with dazed expressions on their faces.

"Lieutenant?! What are you doing down here?" Nox turned to see Shepard along with a Krogan and Turian flanking either side of him. They had their guns out and pointed at her.

She doubted the whole "this is my girlfriend act" would work on Shepard so she simply blurted out, "What are you doing here and where did you find the Krogan?" She pointed out excitedly earning an eye roll from the commander which was beginning to become common place when he was around her.

"Hey! We're not finished here!" The turian shouted back as he woke up from the haze he was in.

Nox looked to Shepard and sighed. She lazily unhosltered her pistol and fired backwards without even really looking. Three blaster bolts flew from the barrel and three bodies dropped.

"Well… I went looking for you guys, obviously. I wasn't going to let a little headache keep me from a good fight." Nox shrugged she at least hoped he would buy it.

She counted about two seconds before he lowered his weapon.

"Well, at least you got here in time to save the Quarian."

"My name is Tali," the Quarian interjected lightly, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya is my full name." She pushed away from Nox who frowned and raised an eyebrow at being left in the dust.

"My name is Shepard. I am with the Alliance and that intel on Saren you have will be able bring him down after we present it to the Council." He gestured at her Omni-tool.

She followed his gaze and then looked back at the thugs. She thought for a moment, before looking back at Shepard.

"Saren's goons have been dogging me for months. I have even been shot in that time. That being said if giving you this information hurts Saren, than I would be willing to get that boshtet back for the hell he put me through." Her tone was firm and unwavering. Nox marveled at her future apprentice's strength of will. Saren would have no idea what hit him when the time came.

A/N: Well, Nox's Force tracking is rusty. Having no force sensitives to actually find for over fifty years will do that. Anyway, I wonder how Tali being Force sensitive sits with many of you. Don't be afraid to share you opinion.

On a side note, I might rewrite some elements of this story when I get the chance. Hope you all enjoy.


	5. Chapter 5

Reviews and criticism are always welcome. Sorry for the wait. Just had a bad case of writers block.

The Normandy was on the move pulling out the dock and gunning it for that that giant tuning fork shaped slingshot that would propel it the other side of the Galaxy in a blink of an eye. Nox tilted her head a bit as she stood in the cockpit behind Joker. The pilot losing all his generally more outgoing demeanor and becoming a verified badass of flying a starship. Nox was impressed yet again by the quality of the crew assembled on this ship. It reminded her of her own crew in a way, only Joker could fly circles around her and Andronikos… maybe not her.

She looked out into space after entering the system of Shepard's choosing. She looked to see another Mass Relay, its glowing blue center across the system. While being much faster than hyperspace travel, hyperspace travel still felt a bit more independent than the giant ship cannons that populated this reality.

 _No doubt part of the Reaper's plan. Get rid of independent travel and the galaxy will be nerfs ready to be put to slaughter_ , Valkorion's voice echoed in her head. It was annoying, but Nox did find herself agreeing with the evil life consuming Emperor at least in this regard. To this she muttered to herself.

"Can't believe I am agreeing with you," she crossed her arms in annoyance still staring at the relay.

"Agree with what? How handsome I am?" Joker remarked running his hand through his bearded stubble.

Nox huffed irritably, "Not you."

Joker looked around a bit confused seeing no one else present in the Normandy cockpit.

"Are you sure you're okay there, Lieutenant?" Joker asked razing an eyebrow.

Nox growled and turned to walk down to the CIC, "Never mind me, I have to go make sure the new Gunny isn't completely hogging the armory bench."

"Okay," Joker drawled out as he watched intently while she strutted away. Aware of his lingering gaze she flipped him off before reaching the end of the ramp. The pilot turned back to his one job on the ship and immediately began beginning the pre-drive check to jump to the Knossos system.

Her mood soured by the Emperor again, she stomped down from the CIC to the elevator to the cargo bay. She noticed Kaidan speaking with Chief Williams much to her relief as she stepped into the elevator. She bumped into a technician from down below, probably going on break, but she didn't care as he tripped and fell out of the elevator. Standing alone in the wretched box tapping her foot impatiently while the infernal thing crept slowly down to the cargo bay was grating. It left her alone with her thoughts, and the voice that plagued her mind.

The four other Sith Lords in her head could be shut up whenever she willed it. The Voss ritual she had undertaken reinforced her mind to keep them in check. Valkorian was a whole different animal all together.

While she could limit his influence greatly, he could still find a way to weasel around the walls in her mind and put in his two creds from time to time. Hopefully that was the extent of the Emperor's influence.

The elevator door opened drawing her from her thoughts. She made her across to the armory work bench. She walked by Wrex who was leaning on a stack of crates, checking his shotgun with bored expression. The big krogan simply nodded at her to which she returned. The cargo bays lighting wasn't the best making things like the white armory bench stick out more as she approached it. She stopped by the locker next to it to take her sniper rifle out of her locker and then set down gently on the bench. There were some rifle parts on it which she pushed out of the way with her arm, whoever left them there be damned.

She began to dissemble rifle mechanically, piece by piece, and begin cleaning. Falling into a meditation of sorts, her hands moved robotically while her mind was elsewhere. Reaching out through the Force she felt the ship once again and its inhabitants. Seeking out the one lifeform on this ship with any ability.

It took only a fraction of a moment find the little beacon of Force power in the engineering bay. Probably the greatest of anomalies she had ever come across in this galaxy. It left her to wonder why Force-sensitives were so scarce here. In her reality they were very rare as well, but the overwhelming population of her galaxy made it seem less so.

Tali was strong, but something nagged at Nox, a feeling that training this girl in the Dark Side would only be detrimental in the long term if the Reapers were to be stopped. Perhaps she could train her to be like Lana. Lana was Sith to be sure, but wasn't against using the light side of the Force. Some could say the Blonde spymaster was more of a Gray Sith than an actual Sith.

She looked down only to notice her rifle was put back together just as was before. She rechecked the Gas cartridge and sights once more, and put it back in her locker.

"What the hell!" Nox looked over to see Chief Williams stomping over to her.

"Is there a problem _Chief_?" Nox inquired while putting emphasis on the Gunny's rank to deter Williams from making anymore outbursts.

"Yeah, there is, Ma'am" she gestured to the parts of the disassembled rifle shoved into the corner of the work bench.

"Oh, that rifle was yours. If I had known… I probably would have still done the same kriffing thing." Nox stated with an uncaring tone.

"You think you can just come over and mess with other people's shit, then you got another thing comin',"

"Yeah, because leaving a weapon dissembled on the work bench table to go chat up Lieutenant Alenko is completely within regulation." Nox smiled as the Chief lifted her finger to make a point, but stopped short realizing Nox was right. She glared at Nox before roughly shoving past her.

Nox giggled a bit, "I like it when a girl shows a little bite."

The chief stiffened a bit and Nox took that moment as an opportune time to strut away, having messed with the NCO long enough. Her mood slightly lightened, she ventured to go to the mess and grab something edible.

* * *

Joker was not having a very good day. Shepard was stuck trying to outrun a volcano, his porn stash was almost discovered by Pressly and Fox was muttering to herself in the co-pilot's seat next to him.

"I still don't get it. Why take _her_ over me? Me! I have the most experience. Force, I am even a better soldier than Shepard. The Krogan I can understand, but the Chief. No no…"

"That's enough Lieutenant, I am having a hard time focusing on rescuing Shepard so could you kindly shut your face hole, then I can go back to getting our Commander back onboard in one piece as is stated in my job description." The scathing tone surprised even him, but he would be damned if he was going let his CO die due a little distraction.

The red head gave him a glare that could have melted his face off, and at any other time he would have shit his pants. When he was at the helm however, there was nothing in the universe that could make him back down. He noticed as he turned back to swooping into pull out Shepard that she did shut up, but a quick sideways glance he could see the mental turmoil not being selected to go groundside was getting to her. He shook his head slightly at how she couldn't grasp why Shepard didn't take her on his squad for this mission.

While he barely really knew anything about the Lieutenant, he had seen an enough to give a close guess of her personality was. She was an overconfident narcissistic well… bitch with a chip on her shoulder the size of the galaxy. As he pulled in to float the ship above the mine entrance, a glance at Fox revealed she was silently scowling at him. If he hadn't been more focused on saving the ground team he swore he would have told her to go give fuck-me eyes to her reflection in which some cases he noticed she sometimes did when he was watching through the cameras on the ship. It would leave him to do his job at least.

Fox's eyes widened and she only seemed to grow more agitated. She actually bristled like she heard his thoughts. Joker paid her no mind as the all board signal chimed and he didn't hesitate to pulled out the volcano's eruption. Just in time too. Fox got up to leave in a pissed off huff as his refusal to let her vent.

He shrugged while checking over the latest diagnostics of the ships systems, making sure everything was in the green. He was sure that Fox wouldn't do anything drastic, but he had a feeling that the woman wouldn't be hanging around the cockpit any time soon.

* * *

"I'll tell you how the Prothean's were wiped out," Shepard stated plainly after the long winded account by Dr. T'soni about her theories on the Prothean's extinction. The doctor was what they needed in a prothean expert, but could she ramble on and on. Shepard made a mental note not to mention Protheans any way shape or form unless it for the mission's sake around the good doctor. His head already had enough Prothean crap to deal with.

"I assure you that I have heard every theory out there." The doctor replied with a bit of exasperation like this was an old conversation she had repeated before.

"They were wiped out by a race of machines called the Reapers. Lieutenant Fox and myself were both exposed to a damaged beacon. We had a vision burned into our minds." He noticed Fox cross her arms looking rather miffed for some reason. He would ask her later but for now the Doctor's insight could be valuable.

"That makes sense," she said to herself. Everyone's reactions were varied, most were surprised say for Fox and Shepard himself.

"It fits into how the Protheans were wiped out like those that came before them and so on. The galaxy seems to have series of extinction level events killing all spacefaring species." Seeing everyone looking at her weird, she crossed her arms nervously, "Sorry, just a theory I have after studying the Protheans for so long."

Shepard nodded, turning back to give the order to dismiss only the session. He was interrupted with a "Commander you said that the beacon burned a vision into your brain. Perhaps I can try an Asari meld."

"What? Like Spock?" Joker said over the comm from the cockpit.

"Who?" Liara and Fox both said. Seeing both the looks on the asari and the human's faces Joker took it upon himself to give a quick overview.

"What!" Joker said, "Star Trek, Captian Kirk, Scotty?" The both shook their heads," The Doctor, I can understand, but you Lieutenant. You are a shame to your entire race. Don't worry we'll rectify that later. You owe me for earlier anyway." The last bit forced Fox to grumble to herself. Shepard heard her mention something about a… whatever a gundark was and a bath in Mustafarian lava pits in her mumbling. He shook his head at his subordinates before looking to the Doc once again.

"You think that will reveal something useful about these visions?" he asked. She nodded.

"Alright, let's see if you can make sense of it better than I can." He stood off the railing of the projector and walked to the center. Liara got up and walked as well. They stood close together.

Liara mentioned a mantra that her people said before a meld. Most of it was lost to his brain as soon as the meld started anyway. The only words he remembered were 'Embrace Eternity' and the dark vison played out once again, just as unreadable as ever. When it finished, he saw Liara step back wavering like the meld exhausted her.

"Amazing, truly, how are you and the Lieutenant still have any brain function at all is beyond me. A lesser mind would have been torn apart."

Fox leaned forward and pointed at the Chief across the room, "You hear that Ash, you would have been drooling in a bowl if it wasn't for Shepard." Shepard scowled at his Lieutenant while she snorted to herself at her own insult.

"Enough." He ordered before Ash could even stand, her fists bared ready to clobber Fox. The chief stood down, but Fox leaned back in her chair putting her arms behind her head casually. Shepard disliked this turn of events, and vowed to get to the bottom of it. His team needed to be strong and this little war between two of his squad had to end before it could fully start.

Liara damn near fell over and he remembered that she had been deprived of food and water for at least a day or two.

"When was the last you ate or slept for that matter?" his concern was evident as he held the blue-skinned woman up to keep her from feinting.

"Too long I am afraid. The meld only added to that." The asari admitted.

"Lieutenant Alenko, get her to the med bay right away." Alenko to his credit didn't hesitate and took the young asari and lead the young woman to the infirmary.

"Everyone dismissed, I have a debriefing with the Council in a few minutes." As ordered everyone left.

"Good luck with that," Fox said sourly as she left.

He shook his head as his other Lieutenant's attitude. What had gotten into her? Anderson said she was handful, but this was different.

He left that problem to deal with later right now he had a call to make.

Three holographic figures appeared making up the Council.

"Commander Shepard, we just received your report. We understand you were able to find Matriarch Benezia's daughter." Tevos' calm voice chimed in.

"I hope you're taking the proper precautions?" Valern asked. Shepard inwardly rolled his eyes at the Salarian and his species naturally occurring paranoia.

"Yes, but any connection between the Doctor and Saren has yet to be found. I for one believe her. I think that Saren merely wanted a way to reinforce his hold on his associate." Shepard replied and Valern seemed impressed with the deduction.

"Was it really necessary to destroy a Prothean ruin in the process?" Shepard resisted every fiber of his being not to sigh aloud as Spartacus' interruption.

"Councilor, the mission took priority and it didn't help that the Geth were already setting up shop to get at the Doctor." Shepard answered swiftly. The turian councilor seemed satisfied with answer, but his attempt to poke at any fault in Shepard's future missions would be noted from now on.

"Any status on Nihlus' condition?" Shepard asked.

Tevos nodded, "He is doing surprisingly well. The Doctors say he'll be back in the field in about a week."

"Really?" Shepard inquired. _How did he heal so fast? I thought his wounds were more severe?_

Tevos nodded, "The doctors cannot seem to explain it, but his wounds healed very quickly. Whatever the case, Nihlus will be able to join in your mission soon."

Shepard was pleased to hear Nihlus was alive. Fox's insistence on accompanying him seemed to pan out.

"In that case, I would welcome his help. Now I must get back to finding Saren." Shepard bowed his head and the Councilor's did so as well, ending the call.

Joker voice came over the speakers almost instantly. "Wow Commander, just wow. Ever think about going into politics?"

"Not in this lifetime." Shepard muttered as he exited the QEC room.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I am sorry for taking so long. I have no job and I sit around all day playing xbox. Curse you Overwatch! So my own laziness is to blame here. Reviews and criticism are welcome.

Tali hadn't really paid much attention to the debriefing. She was too distracted being on what was probably one of the most advanced ships in the galaxy. Keelah, the basic concept alone for this ship could her earn her a place on any ship in the flotilla. The ability to hide even from geth scanners would be one the biggest boons the Flotilla could have against the in retaking the Homeworld. When she got back to her terminal in engineering she got to work on studying and managing the few systems the humans would allow her to operate.

Despite the natural talent she had shown, this was still a military vessel and there were many things not even being a mechanical savant could get one access to. To their credit, the human engineers seemed to not like the idea of a someone with her knowhow having one arm tied behind her back so to speak. That didn't stop her from making her own conclusions and possible way of drawing up her own schematics for ships like this. She was so focused as she worked that she didn't hear the voice behind her.

"So, what are you doing?" It was an innocent question. The young quarian however, was so enthralled in her work she still jumped about two feet in the air in fright.

She turned around to see Lieutenant Fox leaning on a nearby console with an amused expression. "I had forgotten that Quarians were so agile. I knew this one Quarian woman on Omega who could do a Nos Astra Wrap-around while we...," Tali tilted her head in confusion. Fox must have seen her body language because she switched topics.

The N7 cleared her throat, "Right… well… I am hoping you're doing well on the ship so far. Humans can be a bit paranoid when it comes to non-humans."

Tali appreciated the concern. Fox seemed after more though. Human body language wasn't all that different from Quarian's. While the Lieutenant looked at ease, she betrayed an aura of… something. One could see it in barely noticeable tense of the human woman's shoulders. Tali couldn't explain it. She sometimes would get vibes about people. What humans referred to as a "gut" feeling. It wasn't the same as the Turian in the alley, but something was there. Tali wasn't sure so she would play along for now seeing that Fox was after something.

The Lieutenant was far from a saint if scuttlebutt could be trusted. The number of bodies she had racked for the Alliance was impressive. The problem the Alliance had with her was restraint. The crew mentioned things in their whispers of how she sabotaged a reactor to kill all slavers on some backwater moon. The problem was that same moon held three times that in slaves.

"Oh, no the crew has been very polite. I think the head engineer would let me help more if there weren't so many regulations against it." Tali tone was polite, perhaps too polite.

"That's good," was Fox's awkward response. The N7 rubbed the back of her neck. Tali felt that aura the Lieutenant had spike for a moment before the human quickly waved goodbye.

"Well, I better get going. See where the Commander is having us head next." Tali didn't get a chance to respond as the human officer fast-walked away.

* * *

Things were looking up for Fox, just not in the way she liked. In regards to being selected for the prime fireteam, Shepard still neglected her. Her boots were on the ground at least. Which was something she supposed.

Of course, while the Commander took the Turian and her future apprentice to kill the Geth in the Exogeni tower, she was stuck running errands below the colony. Looking for water pumps to fix or something. The colonists mentioned something about an alpha varren as well. None of it was a priority, at least not to her. This colony was doomed from the start. She could feel it something was here. Below. She wanted to investigate, but the colonists were always watching. Even when one colonist broke line of sight another always quickly made to watch her. It was almost like they were connected, and coordinating to keep the crew Shepard bought with him in their sights at all times. Their presence in the Force was strange. Tiny little tendrils connected them all.

It was a feeling that gnawed at her even down in these rat traps. The yellowish cement structure was very bland and she again wondered why anyone set up shop in an old ruin even if it had stood for fifty thousand years. Then again, the Alliance was always eager to take the Council's scraps. No doubt all the species of the big three passed this world on down the chain.

The Sith Lord stopped when she heard a low growl. She turned around to see a scaled blur leaping toward her. Fox held up her hand casually and the lizard-like creature stopped mild flight not a foot from her neck. Its long fangs were bared as it eyes stared at her in confusion. She smiled, it was a rather large specimen with scars across its red and black scaled hide. Another reason she came down here alone. In this way, she got to use her power freely. Something she had needed to do since leaving the Citadel. Her only irritation was that it was in such a small capacity.

She pulled a small blade from the sheathe in her belt and held it to the beast's throat. Fox was ready to end the beast, but instead she hesitated as feeling washed over her. The Force showed her vague visions of dead bodies. The colonists to be exact. Her smile turned feral as she recalled the knife and lowered the Alpha Varren to the ground.

With a baby voice, she reached down and patted the creature on the head.

"No sense in killing you if your meat will just end up spoiling." She released her Force grip on the animal made a shooing motion with her hands. "Go on now." The Varren sought to not test its luck against the apex predator again and retreated into the bowels of the tower.

With a smile, Fox continued along the corridor with a skip to her step, passing the last pump with not a care. It was pointless now anyway. Then she heard a quiet muttering voice.

"No, No, I will not listen." The voice was quiet, but desperate. She followed the sound until she found a man huddled in a corner. He was dirty and smelled like he had been down here for quite some time. He had a mad glint in his eyes while he stared straight ahead. Fox bent over and waved her hand in front of the man's vison only to see no response.

"No, No, I will not listen," he whispered once again and repeated the mantra.

"Listen to what?" Fox squatted down next to him. He turned to stare at her, seemingly looking right though her.

"The Th-" he tried to say only to grab his temples and scream. He gritted his teeth before trying to answer again. "The Th-!" Only his eyes rolled back and Fox felt a chill run down her back as her Force senses went haywire. She felt that little tendril that connected the colonists minds to the presence under the colony, being yanked away with the man's own mind along with it. She stared wide eyed at the husk of the man. It was all that was left so she drew her blade once more, and sliced the man's throat ending whatever pitiful existence was left in there.

She felt the curious presence of the Varren alpha nearby in her senses and smirked.

"At least your meat will not go to waste." She flicked the blood off the small blade and sheathed it.

Then she felt the Being if only for a moment. It was large yet, strong in its power, more than many beings in this reality. More than enough to cause trouble for her at least. It had noticed her presence, not much of a feat considering she never really hid her force presence all that much since she discovered her potential student. She wanted the young quarian to feel the aura Fox gave off which would lead to the awkward "you have abilities you never knew you had" talk. Though if more beings like the one under the colony existed perhaps she should not broadcast so openly in the field anymore. She mentally cursed herself for believing her apprentice was among the only beings with the Force in this reality.

When she turned to head back to the colony, a slimy green manlike creature climbed over the railing on to the walkway. It turned his head revealing fangs and glowing green eyes. Fox studied the creeper before it let out a long moan and charged. She flung it away with a wave of her hand smashing it to a gooey substance on the wall.

Her feeling of satisfaction was short lived as one more pair of claws grabbed on the railing soon to be joined by several others. Fox's eyes widened. The railing began to fill with them. She felt a wave of anger cascade throughout the Force, and she sensed the creature's thoughts. They were very clear. She was target Alpha. It had sent most of its minions to eliminate her. Fox grinned. _This is going to be far better than fixing water pumps_. She held out her hand and her Lightsaber unclipped it itself from the small of her back and landed in her hand. She ignited a single violet blade and charged.

* * *

The grenade detonated and the green gas filled the air killing many of the grotesque plant creatures. Shepard popped out to fire on many of the creatures, his auto rifle barked as it mowed down the nearest of the plant zombies that weren't caught in the cloud. Garrus was to his right and the turian too had his rifle laying down fire against the wave of creepers. Tali focused on throwing grenades at the thicker groups but the garage was very large and the pesticide clouds only covered a small area upon detonation.

They moved in farther step by step, bullet by bullet. The waves seemed to be never ending for a long time. Then they just stopped. Stragglers were all they encountered until they reached the colony.

He worried for the civilians still here. He gave orders to the Normandy not to engage the ones banging on the hull. The Thorian had their minds, so he would endeavor to kill the beast when he had what he needed from it and they would soon be free.

When they reached the camp, they encountered no civilians. Shepard saw many puddles of what once were creepers as he walked through the modular houses that made up the colony. It was among these streets that he came upon the first of the dead civvies. One shot to the head, and another body not far off with the same cause of death. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned aiming his rifle to see the Fai Den, the colony's leader. The man stumbled toward them with a gun in hand.

"It gets into your head," he bit out he words through agonizing breaths, "It wants you dead. It wants HER dead. I won't let it I-, " the report of a hand cannon went off and Fai's face exploded. It his body fell forward revealing the slender form of Lieutenant Fox behind. Pistol in hand, she holstered it on her thigh and strutted to the console to open to entrance to the Thorian's lair. Shepard was stunned, Fox just executed Fai Dan and from the bodies strewn about, perhaps half of the colony as well.

He felt his blood boil, he had the means to save them. He gave orders for the civilians to be left alone. She killed them.

"Lieutenant!" he stomped to his fellow N7. "I gave orders to not shoot the civilians." He forced his voice to be calm while he gritted his teeth as he waited for her response. Fox glanced up casually, not really concerned about his anger.

"Orders that conflicted with my personal well-being. I went down, alone I might add to fix karking water pumps! I was jumped by those green… creeper things and the colonists. I then hear orders that if followed would put me in suicidal jeopardy. Yes, I went against orders, but let's face it. They were not worth the effort to save anyway." Fox pressed the final button, allowing the freight container to be lifted revealing a stair well. "Now let's kill the thing that is responsible for this all so you can have some measure of heroic satisfaction."

Shepard clenched his fists as watched Fox saunter down the stairs into the Thorian's lair. Shepard wanted to beat her senseless, kill her even. Instead he followed her down, flanked by Tali and Garrus. He had failed his mission to save the colony, but now he had a new one, vengeance.

So, he would go down and kill the beast to take his mind of throwing Fox against the wall and blowing her brains out. Anderson was right in that he should have kept a better eye on her. Shepard just wished he had taken a more strident stance in that regard. Looking back up at Tali and Garrus seeing that both seemed shocked or displeased in their own way. Shepard shook his head and hurried to catch up to Fox before she could cause even more damage.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the wait and I mean it. I have been very busy since I last updated anything. Another bad case of the writers block and a promotion at work are the most contributing factors. One of the best things about having writers block is that it helps you come up with new ideas and I made plots for a couple different stories, I might post later on. Anyway writing for them helped me greatly in getting out this funk I have had for this story. Hopefully it will not be months before another post. Reviews and criticism are always welcome.

* * *

Fox found herself pleased to be finally up front with the main squad and all she had to do was massacre a colony of brainwashed civvies. Funny how things worked out. She could still feel the uneasiness of the squad, Tali and Garrus especially. Shepard seemed more closed off than usual, but otherwise preoccupied in making sure that he did not shoot her in the back if those looks he gave her were any indication.

A loud explosion brought her back to her current predicament, followed by a blue whirling warp that impacted on the pillar next to her. She was currently hold up with the team as around three green Asari clones created by the Thorian, yes green, had them pinned behind rubble. For a few moments she had pleasantly took in the naked green beauties, at least until she remembered they were birthed out of the slimly and creepy puke-green ball of plant-mass. The very alien Shepard and company came down into this wretched ruin to kill. It gave her slight shivers thinking about that. The Thorian itself turned out to be a giant plant-like chandelier suspended over a fifty story drop down the tower shaft. It also explained why it needed minions to protect it. While colonists were all dead, it would spit out asari clones with commando training, which made the team's current situation much more interesting.

She looked over at Shepard who was crouched down next to her, "I'll cover the rest of you while you move on to the next room." It had been tough going to get where they were now. Around the chamber of what was once some sort of hotel, they had to work and clear rooms going up each floor to clear hostiles, and sever the organic tethers which held the Thorian above the pit in the middle. It gave the Thorian ample time to make more hostiles. It was annoying, but challenging. And challenges were what the great and powerful Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Nox liked almost as much as a certain Blonde.

Of course, Darth Nox had a lightsaber and Force lightning, Lieutenant Teri Fox just had a sniper rifle and holographic gauntlet that shot out flames when it wasn't always cooling down.

Shepard nodded and signaled for them to move up and two the next room. Fox didn't hesitate and brought up sniper rifle and fired hitting one of the naked green asari clones between the eyes. Nox sent out a fireball with her omni-tool engulfing the other two in flame. The two remaining asari clones, used their barriers to protect themselves. By then, Shepard and the rest of the fireteam were already in the next room blasting away at any creepers they found. Since no one was watching she casually flung the two clones off the ledge with the Force. Fox chuckled as they fell to their deaths.

She ran to the next room only to see Shepard and Tali firing on the second to last tether that held up the Thorian. Garrus had his assault rifle out and was laying down fire on emerging creepers. Fox joined him using her hand cannon. A loud slimy crack echoed and the tentacle went limp and started stretching.

"Garrus take point, Fox watch our backs." Garrus gave only a slight nod and moved up. Fox frowned but didn't argue. _Shepard knows how to lead and fight at least, despite being a goody good._

That's when things went to _poodoo_. Fox barely had time to cushion herself as she and the team were flung into the wall by an invisible wave of Force energy. It crushed them slowly against the wall. The Thorian was angry and in its anger opened itself to the force. Fox felt the Thorian's confusion for a brief moment, like a newborn taking its first breath. It pushed out again with its newfound power. Fox, was ready this time and pushed back against it with her own power giving her some breathing room.

She glanced over to see the rest of the squad pressed against the wall, looking strained. Tali's mask was beginning to crack. Fox felt a wave of her own anger and met the Thorian's power head on. _No one hurts my future apprentice say for me!_ The Thorian faltered, confused at how a scurrier such as Fox could use this power. Fox didn't give it chance to regroup. She reached out with her arms against the pressing weight and clenched her fist. She felt the last tendrils holding the Thorian and ripped them out of the wall. The Thorian panicked and sent out one last wave before plummeting to its death down the hole it was suspended from. She fell to the ground landing in a crouch while the Shepard, Garrus and Tali fell hard on their faces.

"What was that?!" Garrus grunted. He stood up shakily.

"Keelah, it was like nothing I ever heard of. Perhaps some sort of biotics?" Tali quickly pulled out her Omnitool and clicked a few keys and waved it over her faceplate. The gauntlet's repair function filling the cracks with omni-gel and resealing the mask. "Ugh, I am going to be sick later for sure."

Shepard grunted as he got up, "Whatever it was, must been a death rattle of sorts." He looked up to where the tendril was and seen only a stump where it snapped off. "Otherwise, I don't think we would be alive right now."

Fox was about to give a snarky reply when debris tumbled down the stairs to where they stood. Four weapons were instantly pointed in that Direction.

"Don't shoot!" an asari stood at the hold her arms up. She wore black commando leathers, and looked haggard. Most importantly she was blue, not green. She awkwardly stumbled down the stairs. "I mean no harm."

Shepard noticed an insignia on her shoulder. "Your one of Benezia's soldiers?"

"Obviously," Fox muttered.

"Stow it," Fox gritted her teeth together, she was about to choke him with the Force. _Control yourself,_ Valkorian scolded her. Her anger didn't fade much, but her unwelcome tag along was right though.

"Please I know supported Saren but I want make him pay for being made his puppet. You freed me, and I can give you what he came here for."

"And what's that?" Shepard lowered his rifle.

"The Cypher."

* * *

The humming and clicks of computer equipment were the only company Lana had while she worked. Collating and collecting data from her agents in Imperial Intelligence. Each one was vetted more thoroughly since the Ziost incident. She had more time nowadays and had thrown herself into her work ever since IXati… She stopped those thoughts and continued examining the data. Looking for the strings connecting the big picture of the happenings of the galaxy. The data confirmed what she knew. The Emperor was not dead. All the work to find him was a wild bantha chase. The worst part was Lana knew what the purpose of the Emperor's fade was. He wanted Nox gone. It proved that Ixati's powers were a threat to him. This gave her a possible weapon to use against Vitiate, but an extremely rare one. It was unlikely they could find another Forcewalker in their lifetimes.

"Still working?" She heard a low imperial accented voice.

"There is too much at stake not to be." She replied as a tall and muscular red-skinned Sith pureblood came up and stood beside her.

"True, but if you don't rest, you'll never be properly ready for what is coming. A warrior must be both rested and ready at all times." Megor reached out and used the force to power down Lana's console. Lana clenched her fists seething at the parental way upon which he treated her. He may have had a point though. In the screen's reflection, she looked haggard. The bags under her eyes were more pronounced than usual. Her golden iris's bloodshot.

"You may be right, but I am so close to finding him. So close to making him pay for taking her away." Lana, in anger and frustration crushed a nearby chair with the force. Megor remained calm.

"Yes, her loss is the Empire's loss. However, finding the Emperor and making him pay are two very different things. In your state, your lack of control and the self-discipline. The Emperor wouldn't even have to lift a finger to end you. I wouldn't have to work too hard to kill you if I desired either."

"I know!" her voice held venom and lacked any poise she was known for carrying. She leaned forward on the console, bowing hear head. She breathed heavy, and forced herself to keep calm. "I know," this time her voice held a measure of control. "I just don't want IXati's sacrifice to be for nothing."

Megor nodded his head. Ixati wasn't a friend to him, though she was a highly-respected ally and adversary at times. He and Darth Marr had a much harder time finding support on the Dark Council without her. Many Dark Council Member's wanted to forget about the Emperor and his power. Like the Republic, they wanted to live in their own little world until the gundark fell on them from above.

He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She seemed stunned by the contact. "Go, get some rest. The data will still be here when you return." She nodded and reluctantly left her office She noticed that Megor walking to her side.

"Why did you come here anyway?" She asked.

"You are the Minister of Sith Intelligence. You must be at your best." That didn't explain why he was here, she thought.

"Are you working for the Dark Council now?" she asked but suspected what he would say.

Megors face grew dark. "I am not at their beck and call. No, with the Emperor's deception, my position has become irrelevant, so I am redefining myself as the Empire's Wrath now. I look into matters that benefit the empire by curbing the infighting amongst the Sith. I keep them in check now."

"I find that a rather interesting use of your time. It does seem redundant however. We already have Sith intelligence."

Megor snorted, "Yes, but your lot should be able to focus more on our enemies than our own. As a Sith I can more easily challenge other Sith. We will speak more on this later." Megor turned and walked down a different passage. Lana shook her head annoyed by the warrior. He was essentially taking over her job. And his fearsome reputation would no doubt add more to the mess that was currently Sith Intelligence.

Megor was right in one thing this day, and she decided to get at least six hours of sleep before returning to work. She would also have to requisition another chair or perhaps a standing workstation would be better from now on. She sighed desperately thinking about anything but the one thing that she had thrown herself into her work to stop thinking of. It wasn't easily done, she thought as she jumped into her speeder.


End file.
